16.06.2021, 12:00
Global audience of handball soars at EHF FINAL4

MEDIA RELEASE: The biggest event in European club handball reached millions of fans across television and digital media

• 33 broadcasters televise action around the world
• 111,000 users from 196 countries watch on EHFTV
• Social media posts generate reach of 16 million

Barça stormed to their ninth EHF Champions League title at the weekend and their exploits in Cologne were seen across the world by millions of fans on television and social media.

The EHF FINAL4 Men was not all about the Spanish giants though, as all four clubs involved in the end-of-season showpiece helped contribute to the massive global interest in the climax to the European club handball season.

The weekend's matches saw big market shares recorded, especially in Denmark. For the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain Handball and for the the final against Barça a share of almost 20% was recorded.

The victory for Barça had a huge impact in the Spanish market, breaking audience records on Esports3 with a market share peak of 15% on Sunday for the final, making it the day's second most-watched transmission in the region.  

As well as enjoying exposure in key markets in Europe, the event saw 33 broadcasters beam the spectacle on the television across the world, including the cooperation with the Olympic Channel to offer the matches in South and Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa and India.

The evidence of the worldwide appeal of the event was seen on EHFTV, with 111,000 users logging into the EHF’s OTT platform during the weekend from 196 different countries. The four matches and the on-demand clips generated more than one million page views between them.

Online activations boost digital reach

On social media, more than 500 individual clips were uploaded to the EHF’s own digital channels as well as on those of partners and stakeholders, generating a reach of almost 16 million.

Creation and delivery of all clips was executed through Socialie, the content distribution process which was implemented last year by the EHF and EHF Marketing together with Infront and DAZN that enables automatically generated tailor-made content for every stakeholder.

Furthermore, with a limited number of fans allowed inside the LANXESS arena, extra efforts were made to bring the event closer to those watching at home.

This included the implementation of a digital magazine and the introduction of a FAN TV Show on Twitch, which saw seven hours of behind-the-scenes content, exclusive interviews, discussion and analysis streamed in the lead-up to and over the course of the event weekend.

EHF Marketing Managing Director David Szlezak said: “We are not just delighted but proud to see the enormous interest in the EHF FINAL4 reaching far and wide. In what has been a unique season for all involved, we are grateful to have delivered our highlight event to so many fans – especially those who could not be in the LANXESS arena.

“We are also indebted to the dedication of all our partners for making the event a success in the circumstances, and are heartened by their commitment and enthusiasm throughout the season as a whole.”

TEXT: European Handball Federation