EHF EURO beats UEFA Champions League in Denmark – Norway’s TV2 reports most watched international handball opening game ever

Copenhagen, Denmark/Oslo, Norway, 9 December 2010 – The Women’s EHF EURO 2010, which commenced last Tuesday, generated excellent TV figures in its host countries Denmark and Norway right from the first throw-off. Infront Sports & Media, the exclusive marketing partner for the European Handball Federation’s (EHF) premier events, and its national broadcast partners TV 2 Denmark and TV 2 Norway today announced impressive overnight ratings for the host countries.

EHF EURO beats UEFA Champions League
Sport dominated TV programming with football and handball as the main highlights in Denmark when the Women’s EHF EURO 2010 went to air. Last Tuesday, live television coverage for the Denmark vs Serbia (end result: 25:20) preliminary round game played in Aalborg was peaking at a cumulative audience of 974’000 on TV 2 Denmark. Simultaneously, FC Copenhagen’s 3-1 victory over Panathinaikos Athens in a decisive UEFA Champions League match was broadcast live on Viasat. Copenhagen became the first Danish team to reach the Last 16. However, the popularity of handball was confirmed as TV 2 secured a 39.1% market share over Viasat’s football coverage with 33.7%.

 

Most watched opening game in Handball
The Women’s EHF EURO opening game on 7 December 2010 - with Norway defeating France 33:22 - was the most watched handball opening game of all time in Norway. On TV 2 Norway, the game played in Lillehammer accrued a cumulative audience of 890,000 and an impressive market share of 49.8%. No other opening game of both a previous World and European Handball Championship attracted higher TV audiences.

 

Stephan Herth, Executive Director of Summer Sports at Infront said: “The impressive TV figures clearly demonstrate that Scandinavia is an extraordinary market for handball and we are optimistic that we will see similar levels of enthusiasm in other European countries during the event. To outrank a decisive UEFA Champions League match involving a local team with an early round EHF EURO game speaks volumes for the sport of handball and its audience appeal in Denmark.”

 

EHF and Infront – Partners for 17 years
Infront Sports & Media’s relationship with the EHF dates back to 1993, when the Swiss-based sports marketing group took over the responsibility for both the television distribution and marketing of the European Handball Championships (EHF EURO) on a worldwide basis. In June 2009 the EHF and Infront agreed a long-term marketing partnership in until 2020. As well as handling the distribution of media and marketing rights for the EHF Women’s EURO, Infront also manages production and delivers a variety of services related to the organisation of the event.

 

 

For more information please contact:

Jörg Polzer
Associate Director, Corporate Communications
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax +41-41-723 15 16
press infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com

JJ Rowland
Head of Media and Communications
European Handball Federation
Tel: +43 1 801 51 167
Fax: +43 1 801 51 149
rowland eurohandball.com
www.eurohandball.com