Zug, Switzerland – SportA, the sports rights agency of ARD and ZDF, has acquired the exclusive media rights for the Men’s EHF EUROs 2016 in Poland and 2018 in Croatia. The agreement covers all audio-visual rights for Germany and was closed by Infront Sports & Media, the European Handball Federation’s exclusive marketing and media partner for EHF EURO events.
Under the agreement, the public service broadcasters (ARD, ZDF and the regional channels) will transmit all matches of the German national team along with other highlights of the two tournaments. The host broadcast will be handled by POLSAT and supervised by Infront. The TV signal will be produced in HD quality using up to 15 cameras per game.
ARD Sports Coordinator Axel Balkausky, said: “Handball has a long tradition in Germany and is one of the most successful sports on TV. Following the convincing performance of the national team in the qualifiers, we are delighted to provide comprehensive expert coverage of the German national team in our public service programming – offering both the upcoming EHF EURO in Poland as well as the 2018 event in Croatia.”
ZDF Sport Director Dieter Gruschwitz added: “We look forward to our free-TV coverage of the two upcoming European handball championships featuring the German national team. As the sport of handball is always a TV highlight when major events are staged, we are happy to deliver this popular spectacle to the viewers as part of our sports offering.”
Stephan Herth, Executive Director of Summer Sports at Infront, added: “Handball is one of the most popular team sports in Germany with a large following and many dedicated partners. Thanks to the cooperation with SportA, German fans can look forward to extensive free-TV coverage for the upcoming tournaments. As a result, the EHF EURO can look forward to significantly increasing its presence and reach across this important European market."
The Men’s EHF EURO 2016 will take place from 15 to 31 January in the cities of Gdansk, Katowice, Wroclaw and Krakow in Poland. In total, 16 teams including Germany, will play 48 games as they compete for the prestigious European Championship title. The Men’s EHF EURO 2018 takes place from 12 - 28 January in Croatia. The qualifiers (Phase 2) for this tournament will be played from October 2016.
Infront Sports & Media is the most respected sports marketing company in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operation – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football, summer and endurance sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 170 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of more than 650 experienced staff working from 25 offices across 13 countries, delivering 4,000 event days of top class sport around the world every year.