Dear Friends

Michael Wiederer, EHF President

When we look at the European Handball Federation’s flagship event, there is a common understanding that the ‘Road to the Goal’ is a long one.

The more than 30-year-long evolution of the EHF EURO events, and even if we only use the ‘basic’ example of taking this event from 12 to 16 to 24 national teams, has been extraordinary and has left lasting impressions; it has also been motivational and aspirational, as each host nation strives to create another unforgettable event.

This shared journey has been nothing short of a remarkable adventure. From the first European Championship in 1994 for men in Portugal and for women in Germany, to the latest editions of the men’s and women’s EHF EUROs in Germany for as well in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.

With this overview, the European Handball Federation continues to look to the bright future of European handball as we are presenting the next EHF EURO events – those already awarded and those for which the bidding process is still ongoing – as well as all the insights into what turns the EHF EUROs into the flagship event of European national team handball.

Enjoy the read and let us continue building the dream and creating the legacy of the future EHF EURO events together!

History of the EHF EURO

The EHF EURO is the European Handball Federation’s flagship national team event. First played in 1994, the final tournaments for men and women have established themselves over the past two-and-a-half decades as leading events on the international sports market over the past two and a half decades.

Each event is followed by billions around the globe on TV, across digital platforms and also live in sold-out arenas in each host nation. The competition brings together Europe’s top teams and the world’s best players in a format that is both interesting and enthralling not only to fans and players but also to the media, partners and sponsors.

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2010

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2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

The EHF EURO
in numbers

The first EHF Euro was played in 1994 and hosted by Portugal with 12 participating federations. Since then, 17 other nations have followed, and the number of participants has doubled. The championship has truly developed into a leading international sports event over the past two and a half decades for both men and women.

Each event is followed by billions around the globe via TV and digital platforms as well as in the sold-out arenas. The EHF EURO brings top teams with the world’s best players together in an exciting and entertaining way, not only for fans but also for media, partners and sponsors.

Norway most
successful
on women’s side

Sweden
most successful
on men’s side

31 championships
since 1994

Denmark has hosted
5 EHF EUROs in total

Records are there to be broken

The Men’s and Women’s EHF EUROs are the EHF’s flagship national team events as they continue to set standards for European handball.

630m combined
digital reach
for EHF EUROs 2022

5,150 broadcast
hours for Men’s
EHF EURO 2022

3,743 broadcast
hours for Women’s
EHF EURO 2022

Matches are screened
in 100+ countries and territories

The eyes of the handball world will be on the German city of Düsseldorf and the MERKUR Spiel-Arena on 10 January 2024. When the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 throws off, more than 53,000 fans are expected to be inside the football stadium to witness the opening matches – it’s an attendance world record for handball and marks another milestone in the success story of the EHF EURO events.

To date and with almost 500,000 spectators in the arenas, the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, which was played in Sweden, Austria and Norway and the first with 24 participating teams, has been the biggest EHF European Championship. Furthermore, the tournament not only proved to be a hit with fans on site; with 125,000 app downloads, 23.6 million video views and a 27% growth rate for the EHF’s social media channels new digital heights were also reached.

Digital success continued at the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia when more than 420 million were reached with social media content, an increase of more than 82% from the 2020 tournament. 155,000 new followers were gained on EHF channels, a growth of 112% compared to the 2020 event.

Record-breaking figures were also set at the most recent women’s event, the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

For the first time at a women’s event, 14 dedicated shows were produced for the ‘Home of Handball’ Twitch channel, combining for more than 60 hours of live streaming and recording 1.17 million live views.

On TikTok, 33 videos posted since the end of October gathered 21 million views, and posts and stories on the EHF EURO’s Instagram channel were seen more than 26 million times.

On TV, audience figures peaked at more than 1.1 million in Norway for the final – Norway vs Denmark – a market share of 74 per cent which turned the final into the most watched commercial TV broadcast in Norway in 2022.

There was no lack of attention in Denmark either, as an average audience of more than 1.5 million also meant a market share of 74 per cent for Danish broadcaster TV2.

The peak audience even stood at 1.7 million, making the final this year’s most watched programme on Danish television according to TV2 Denmark.

WOMEN’S EHF EURO 2024

28 November - 15 December 2024

Austria, Hungary and Switzerland

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 will be the biggest yet, as for the first time 24 teams from across Europe will compete to lift the coveted trophy.

The tournament takes place in four cities in three nations – Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. While being three very different countries, the co-hosts share a spirit and passion for handball and are planning to put on a unique and special event.

The Women’s EHF EURO 2024 logo reflects this spirit, combining the colours of the three flags – red, green and white – with the dynamic movement of handball.

Thousands of fans will be able to watch the competition, with the preliminary round taking place in Basel (Switzerland), Innsbruck (Austria) and Debrecen (Hungary). The main round will be played in Vienna (Austria) and Debrecen, with the final weekend taking place in Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle with a capacity of 10,000 spectators.

MEN’S EHF EURO 2026

13 January – 1 Feb 2026

Denmark, Sweden, Norway

Under the tagline Pure greatness, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway will organise the Men’s EHF EURO 2026. These three countries will host thousands of passionate fans from all over Europe during 20 days of spectacular handball.

Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are coming together for the first time to organise a Men’s EHF EURO event, but the Scandinavian trio is one of the most experienced when it comes to hosting continental or intercontinental handball events.

The Men’s EHF EURO 2026 will take place in four cities: Herning in Denmark, Malmö and Kristianstad in Sweden, and the Norwegian capital Oslo, which will host six preliminary round groups.

The main round will be played in Herning and Malmö, with the final weekend taking place in Herning and its 15,000-seat Jyske Bank Boxen arena. This arena has previously hosted the final of the Men’s EHF EURO 2014 and the Women’s EHF EURO 2010 and 2020.

WOMEN’S EHF EURO 2026

3-20 December 2026

Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, Türkiye

The Women’s EHF EURO 2026 has been awarded to Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, and Türkiye in a move to bring top women’s handball to as many European markets as possible. The Women’s EHF EURO 2026 will be the first one hosted by five countries and the second one to be played with 24 teams.

The preliminary round will take place with one group each in Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Antalya, Brno, Katowice, and Bratislava.

The main round will be played in Cluj-Napoca and Katowice. The Polish city of Katowice, a host city already at the Men’s EHF EURO 2016 and the IHF Men’s World Championship 2023, will welcome the teams for the final weekend.

Venues chosen include, among others, the 11,000-capacity Spodek Arena in Katowice as well as the 10,000-capacity BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca.

MEN'S EHF EURO 2028

13-30 January 2028

Spain, Portugal, Switzerland

In 1994, the very first Men’s EHF EURO took place in Portugal with the following edition taking place in Spain, two years later. Over three decades later, the neighbours have joined forces with Switzerland to take the championship back to its foundations.

Seven cities across the three countries have been proposed with Lisbon set to be Portugal’s hub, Lausanne and Zürich to host matches in Switzerland, while Valencia, Malaga and Madrid have been put forward as host cities from Spain.

WOMEN'S EHF EURO 2028

30 November - 17 December 2028

Norway, Denmark, Sweden

Norway, Denmark, and Sweden have joined forces to deliver a Women’s EHF EURO that has innovation at its core, offering a first-class player and fan experience in a happy atmosphere.

In addition, the hosts promise to showcase innovative new approaches to sustainability. In a region that is easy to get to and get around, they will connect European handball to new sustainability standards and provide innovative solutions for future events.

2028 will also mark the first time the three Scandinavian nations join forces to welcome Europe’s top women’s teams.

Norway, Denmark, and Sweden have proposed nine venues in nine different cities: Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo in Norway; Copenhagen, Herning and Aarhus in Denmark; while Sweden will provide venues in Helsingborg and Gothenburg.

The final weekend shall be held at the Unity Arena in Oslo, which means the women’s final will be played in Norway for the first time.

Current Bidding Process

Men’s EHF EURO 2030

10-27 January 2030

Czechia, Poland, Denmark

The joint bid by Czechia, Poland, and Denmark to host the Men’s EHF EURO 2030 tournament would mark the first collaboration among these three nations for a top-level sporting event. The bid, built around the claim ‘Perfect match’, highlights the unique strengths of each country, celebrating their diverse histories and cultures while uniting under a shared passion for handball.

The designated host cities of the Men’s EHF EURO 2030 are the Czech capital Prague, the Polish city of Katowice, and Herning in Denmark. Strategically located in central Europe, they are easily accessible, and offer a wide range of accommodation options, from luxury hotels to budget-friendly places, complemented by their renowned warm hospitality.

Each city would host two preliminary round groups, while the main round would be played in Prague and Katowice with the event culminating in the 17,500-seat O2 Arena in Prague.

Fans can anticipate exceptional sporting performances alongside the warm hospitality of the bidding nations, creating unforgettable experiences and fostering connections among people from different backgrounds.

Croatia

With the claim ‘Experience the passion, witness the excellence’, Croatia is bidding to host the Men’s EHF EURO 2030/32. This would mark the third time Croatia is hosting the Men’s EHF EURO event, having previously organised championships in 2000 and 2018.

The bid to host the Men’s EHF EURO in 2030/32 represents a step forward in Croatia’s sporting journey. These events shall provide the country with an opportunity to once again showcase its passion and dedication to handball, but also to inspire a new generation of athletes, and leave a lasting legacy for the youth.

The proposed host cities include the capital Zagreb, Split, Varazdin, and Porec. The preliminary round would be played in all four cities, while the best 12 teams would continue the main round in Zagreb and Split. The grand final would once again, just like in 2018, be played in Arena Zagreb with its capacity for 15,200 spectators.

Men’s EHF EURO 2032

15 January - 1 February 2032

Germany, France

Two handball nations – strong in tradition – join their forces to form the hosting duo for the Men’s EHF EURO 2032 in the heart of Europe: Germany and France – both experienced organisers of major handball events. France hosted the Women’s EHF EURO 2018 and now bid to organise their first ever Men’s EHF EURO event jointly with Germany, host of the Women’s EHF EURO 1994 and the record-breaking Men’s EHF EURO 2024.

The Men’s EHF EURO 2032 shall celebrate a common passion for handball, which will have a huge impact throughout both nations and across Europe by highlighting the sport and the unity it brings. The bid outlines the four key elements: spreading the passion for handball across Europe, sustainable sportsmanship, handball heritage and cultural fusion as well as putting the fans in focus.

Potential host cities include Stuttgart, Cologne, Mannheim, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Hanover, and Munich in Germany, as well as Paris and Lyon in France.

Women’s EHF EURO 2032

1-19 December 2032

Germany, Denmark, Poland

For the first time, Germany, Denmark and Poland will unite efforts to host the Women’s EHF EURO 2032. All three nations have long-lasting handball traditions, great infrastructure and arenas, as well as the knowledge and experience of hosting major events.

The distances will be short, the cities will be easily and sustainably accessible and combine the culture and charm of three different neighbours. The German part of the bid includes Magdeburg, Leipzig, Berlin, Hanover, Hamburg, and Kiel as potential host cities with their well-known arenas, which almost all hosted previous World and European Championships.

Germany as lead among the three organisers will host the opening match and the final weekend. Denmark’s hosting cities are Herning and Aalborg, while the Polish part of the tournament will be played in Katowice.

The common goal of all three organising federations is setting new standards in all areas of the organisation. Germany, Denmark, and Poland hope to create a long-lasting heritage for women’s handball, to activate and inspire girls to play handball and to strengthen women’s clubs all over Europe by using top stars as role models.

Event concept EHF EURO 2030/32

The pivotal role in the evolution of future events will be sustainability and the embracement of green initiatives.

As more nations join the fray, the events will tap into fresh markets, offering numerous countries the chance to shine on Europe's premier stage.

The blueprint for the men’s and women’s championships remains consistent. A span of 18 days will be electrified by 65 gripping matches involving 24 elite teams. The initial phase will be organized into six groups of four teams each. From there, the leading two teams of every group will move to the main round, which further splits into two groups of six teams. The culmination of this competition will be the semi-finals, played by the top two of the main round groups, leading to the grand finale: the bronze and gold medal showdowns.

The event has already established itself in the mind of sports fans. TV viewership has soared past a billion, and the digital footprint across various online channels is consistently escalating. Such profound engagement paves the way for the organizers to eagerly champion the cause of sustainability, spotlighting the greener aspect of the championship. EHF EUROs are on course to set a benchmark for how green a major sporting spectacle can be. Yet, amidst all these developments, the heart of EHF EURO remains its passionate fans. Their experience is paramount. EURO events are meticulously curated to revolve around and elevate the fan experience, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of every decision and initiative.

EHF EURO BRAND

The EHF brand architecture brings coherence to EHF EURO competitions and helps establish the EHF as the governing body of European handball.

Each organiser has the freedom to create their own logo, within the framework of the design system.

The shape of a handball is referenced throughout the entire EHF brand system. On a national team level, the circular shape of the ball is used to empower all national team competition logos.

The structured use of other design elements, such as fonts and colours, strengthens this relationship. This approach will ensure a recognisable brand throughout all EHF EURO competitions.

Sponsors and Partners

The EHF Euro provides official partners with an unrivalled pan-European platform through which to promote and activate their brands and products to an audience of billions on TV as well as through digital channels and on-site.

The package of benefits available to the event’s official partners includes: strong brand positioning in camera view around the court through advertising sequences on LED boards, floor stickers and interview backdrops as well as full activation rights, corporate hospitality opportunities and tickets. Official partners are able to make use of a 40 metres of LED advertising on the long side and LED static boards behind the goals providing much improved visibility for brands and their advertising.

In addition to presence in the arenas, official partners can also benefit from many additional branding and activation opportunities. Through branded content or campaigns on digital channels, it is possible to engage with millions of fans through the EHF EURO events’ official digital channels. On-site too, opportunities can be provided for activation at special locations in the host cities, including fan areas in the city centres or arenas.

Media and Marketing Partner

Infront, one of the world’s leading sports marketing companies, is the EHF’s long-standing media and marketing partner, and has been the federation’s exclusive commercial partner for EHF EURO events since 1993. Infront holds both the media and marketing rights for the EHF EURO through to the end of 2030.

Working in close cooperation with the EHF, the international sport agency’s responsibilities extend well beyond the sale of marketing rights to official partners and media rights to TV stations around the world. Infront also takes care of marketing implementation and activation as well as TV production and distribution of all EHF EURO events.

Infront’s large team of experts works out of Italy, Israel and Switzerland providing the EHF and the EHF EURO events with a wide range of additional services including content production, digital marketing expertise as well as managing the day-to-day operations of the federation’s OTT platform, EHFTV.com.

Event Experience

The EHF Euro events have become much more than just 24 teams competing for one title. Even though it will remain the core of the event, it has become a sport itself to attract spectators far beyond handball fans.

The competitive sports market provides organisers with the opportunity to be creative when it comes to the entertainment. The key to a successful EHF EURO is giving fans, sponsors, and players a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the venues and on TV.

That requires that the entertainment on offer in the arena as well as all around the host city meets top-level standards. Partners and sponsors are interested in visibility – either through TV and LED advertising systems or via on-site activations. They want to create interaction with the fans and customers, and engage with them through promotional stands, corporate hospitality, or social and digital campaigns.

So, each EHF EURO is so much more than what happens inside the arenas. The additional event experiences are a great way of attracting fans and ensure that they come back for more.

This is a major consideration for organisers and includes entertainment, VIP and corporate hospitality opportunities, fan zones and promotional areas as well as entertainment, music and show elements around the matches

Digital Engagement

With fans spread around the world, the EHF is putting a continued focus on enhancing its digital footprint and reaching more and more people in increasingly engaging and creative ways.

One success story has been the explosion of followers engaging on entertainment platform TikTok. Home of Handball is now one of the biggest handball profiles on TikTok with more than 800,000 following the channel. There has been a particular increase in the past year, with the audience size more than doubling in 2022.

A formal partnership between the EHF and TikTok was signed for the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 – the first of its kind in handball. The partnership was a huge success, with handball content seen over 100 million times by the end of the tournament.

Partnerships such as the one with TikTok form part of the EHF’s approach to produce content that serves the existing handball community and reaches new target groups to ensure a consistent and sustainable growth for the EHF’s follower base. Not limited to just the EHF EURO events, the EHF’s content production runs 365/24/7 as the federation thrives to produce the best and most engaging content for each platform that is part the ecosystem.

With digital reach of European handball being a combined effort of the EHF, its member federations as well as other important stakeholders such as TV partners, a huge amount of content, including match highlights and top goals and saves clips, is also made available by via distribution software for immediate use on the stakeholders’ channels.

The efforts have resulted in record-breaking figures with Men’s EHF EURO 2022 reaching 420 million people via social media and the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 reaching 210 million.

Media and TV

The EHF prides itself on its positive relationship with the sport’s media and seeks to provide the best working conditions to ensure both positive and extensive coverage of the EHF Euro events worldwide.

This is particularly important at the EHF EURO events, where more than 1,000 media representatives can be on-site, and a close cooperation is essential between the EHF’s own media team, the organising committee and media partners.

A professional media management concept is the key to providing the infrastructure, services and access that the media require at major international events. The EHF’s operations are managed by an experienced media manager, with the support of media supervisors in each venue. They work closely with the organiser’s own media management staff and volunteers in each of the venues and also the staff of the EHF’s media partner.

The extensive media services provided by the EHF complement

those provided by the EHF’s own media partner to ensure that all media, whether they be written journalists, photographers, TV or radio, have the support they require during the event. This includes the provision of extensive event information and statistics, a ﬂash-quotes service as well as numerous media events to ensure that the story of each event can be told through direct contact with players and coaches of the court.

For TV partners, a complete range of host broadcaster and production services are offered to ensure that the best quality pictures are beamed into the homes of viewers around the world. With a large number of broadcast agreements for each event, the best quality production quality is guaranteed and always developing from event to event.

Technology

The EHF has been leading the development and usage of technology in handball to support officials to lift the game to the highest possible level.

The EHF EUROs have been at the forefront of technical innovation within handball for many years. Since The EHF EURO 2016, various technologies have been introduced, with goal-light technology, goal-line technology, player tracking, and video replay as the four most notable examples. The goal-light and goal-line technologies as well as the video replay all support the referees in taking the right decisions. In a sport that has become ever faster, the need for such technical support is obvious. Player tracking is an innovation that is beneficial to players, coaches, and teams.

The data collected during a game give deep insight in and allow thorough analysis of many relevant parameters and have become an integral part of the education of a new generation of coaches. Also, player tracking delivers a ton of nice-to-know statistics that sport fans are looking after and that bring them even closer to the game. Who had the fastest shot? Who did the highest jump? Who played the most passes? The development of technologies in handball doesn’t stop here. While we don’t know yet what the future brings, the EHF will always thrive the implementation of innovative technologies that lift the sport to an even higher level.