Denmark’s thrilling 34-27 victory over Germany in the final of the men’s EHF European Championship on Sunday, February 1, captivated a massive television audience across Europe, proving handball’s growing appeal.
Record Viewership in Germany and Iceland
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In Germany, public broadcaster ZDF reported a staggering 12.82 million viewers – a 50.8% market share – tuned in to watch the championship match. These numbers represent the highest viewership for a handball game in Germany since 2016, when 12.98 million watched Germany’s win against Spain in Poland.
Denmark’s triumph also resonated deeply at home, with over 2 million viewers watching the end of the final on TV2. The broadcaster averaged 1.77 million viewers, capturing approximately 85% of the Danish television market as their national team secured the gold medal.
What is the EHF Euro? The EHF Euro is the biennial European Championship for men’s national handball teams, organized by the European Handball Federation (EHF).
Semi-Finals and Bronze Medal Match Draw Large Crowds
The excitement wasn’t limited to the final. Denmark’s semi-final victory against Iceland in Herning on Friday also drew a peak viewership of over 2 million in Denmark. Meanwhile, 1.2 million viewers in Croatia watched their national team defeat Iceland 34-33 to claim the bronze medal on broadcaster RTL, achieving a 60% market share among adults aged 18-59.
Iceland experienced a historic surge in viewership. The semi-final clash against Denmark on public broadcaster RÚV garnered an average viewership of 66.4% – the highest ever recorded for any sporting event on the island nation. This surpassed the previous record held by the 2018 World Cup match between Iceland and Argentina (62.4%).
Iceland’s impressive run continued to captivate its audience. The bronze medal game against Croatia (63.1%) and the earlier match against Slovenia (62.5%) both exceeded the viewership figures of the Iceland-Argentina World Cup match, further cementing handball’s popularity.
Broadcasting Reach and Tournament Details
The tournament, co-hosted by Denmark, Sweden, and Norway between January 15 and February 1, benefited from extensive live coverage secured by the Infront agency, the EHF’s media and marketing partner, across more than 70 territories. A significant portion of this coverage was available on free-to-air channels.
Major broadcasters including Viaplay (Sweden, Norway, Finland), TV2 Denmark, ORF (Austria), ARD & ZDF (Germany), France Télévisions/BeIN (France), TVE (Spain), RTP (Portugal), Eurosport/ TVP (Poland), Arena Sport (Balkans), SRG (Switzerland), and RÚV (Iceland) aired the matches. Global live access was also provided via EHFTV.com.
“These figures are absolutely spectacular and underline the growing appeal of our sport,” said Martin Hausleitner, EHF secretary general. “An EHF Euro that is followed by millions is the perfect base to foster further growth and development of handball in Europe.”
Jens Mennigmann, co-head of media at Infront, added: “These audiences underline the enduring strength of handball on broadcast. Working with the EHF and leading broadcasters across Europe, our focus was on building a distribution model that delivers both scale and relevance. These results speak for themselves.”
