Infront Appointed to Handle Media and Marketing Rights to New Qualification Tournaments for the EHF EURO
Zug, Switzerland/Vienna, Austria, 5 June 2008 – In an extension of its role as exclusive marketing partner of the EHF European Handball Championship – EHF EURO –, Infront Sports & Media has been appointed by the European Handball Federation (EHF) to undertake a parallel role for the qualifications for the men’s and women’s EHF EURO events for the period 2010 to 2015. The qualification system for the tournaments has been completely reformed by the EHF, as from the Men’s EHF EURO 2010 which takes place in Austria from 19-31 January 2010. Defending Champions Denmark and hosts Austria have automatic right of entry. In addition, a total of 37 National Federations have registered for the qualification matches. On 18 April, these 37 teams were drawn into a total of seven qualification groups. There are two groups with six teams and five groups with five teams. The winners and runners up from each group will qualify. The final line-up for each tournament will consist of 16 teams. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 1
Qualification groups for the Men’s EHF EURO 2010
2
SWE SRB NOR HUN SLO CZE UKR3
ROU SUI MKD SVK BLR POR LTU4
MNE BIH EST GRE ISR LAT NED5
TUR ITA BEL FIN BUL LUX CYP6
GEO FAR
The ten rounds of the Men’s EHF EURO 2010 qualification are scheduled to take place from end of October 2008 until end of June 2009 (
Additional media and marketing rights now available
As a result of this process, additional games and marketing rights are now available to broadcasters and brands worldwide. Infront will handle the distribution of the international (second and third party) media rights to these qualifiers (TV, radio and Internet rights).
The Swiss-based sports marketing group will also be responsible for selected marketing rights, including Official Presenting Sponsorship, shirt advertising (players and referees) and perimeter advertising in key positions. Infront will distribute those rights exclusively, respecting any agreements that still exist on a national federation level.
Another decisive step forward
Tor Lian, President of the EHF, said: “The EHF is proud of the strong working relationship between Infront and the EHF. The EHF EURO product has taken another decisive step forward with this new qualification system, a decision made by the European nations, which not only further increases international television coverage but also enforces the overall, unified presentation of the brand on the sporting market.”
Stephan Herth, Infront’s Executive Director Summer Sports, added: “As the sport of handball enjoys a rising popularity across Europe, the new qualification system is the next logical step in the marketing of the EHF EURO and it will further extend the impact of the event. Existing commercial partners will have a new area of potential and possible new partners will be able to target their markets of choice.”
Infront and EHF – A long-term relationship
Infront’s relationship with the EHF is of long-standing, dating back to 1993. Last year, it was again extended to cover the Men’s and Women’s European Handball Championships in 2012 and 2014. Infront’s contribution to European handball has been considerable, ensuring the successful development of the top EHF events. These are now supported by broadcast coverage in the most important television markets throughout the world and a loyal group of event sponsors.
The 2008 men’s event was the most extensively covered and viewed tournament in the history of the EHF EURO: approx. 1,100 programme hours were watched by a cumulative television viewing audience of 1.2 billion. This magic figure now stands as the new viewing record for a single EHF event and equals the combined viewing audience from both the men’s and the women’s tournament in 2006.
The EHF and Infront are currently preparing for the Women’s EHF EURO, scheduled from 02-14 December 2008 in FYR Macedonia. The 47 matches will be played in Skopje and Ohrid; the teams of Norway, Russia, France, Germany, Hungary and the host FYR Macedonia are already qualified. The other participating teams are currently being decided by play-offs, which will come to an end on 8 June 2008. The draw for the final tournament will take place on 20 July 2008 at 19:00 in Ohrid, FYR Macedonia.
For further information, please contact:
Jörg Polzer
Manager, Communication & PR
Infront Sports & Media AG
Tel. +41-41-723 15 15
Fax +41-41-723 15 16
press@infrontsports.com
www.infrontsports.com
Sian Rowland
Communications Manager
European Handball Federation
Tel. +43-1-801 51 161
Fax +43-1-801 51 149
rowland@eurohandball.com
www.eurohandball.com
www.ehf-euro.com