EHF Marketing GmbH Close Groundbreaking Deal for Hungarian and Slovenian Markets
Vienna, 8th August 2007 – EHF Marketing GmbH, a company of the European Handball Federation, has closed a substantial TV deal for production and coverage of the EHF Men’s and Women’s Champions League within the Hungarian and Slovenian markets. Following intensive negotiations, it can now be announced that the EHF Champions League will be broadcast on the Viasat network, a company of the Modern Times Group, over a period of 5 years, starting with the 2007/2008 season.
Both the Hungarian and Slovenian markets have deep-rooted handball traditions running through them and handball clubs from both countries are amongst the highest ranked clubs in Europe. The deal underlines the ever increasing value of the EHF Champions League product and its firm positioning on the sporting market. Tor Lian, EHF President and Chairman of the EHF Marketing Advisory Board marks this contract as, “… a further milestone in the development of the Champions League product.”
Michael Wiederer, Managing Director of EHF Marketing GmbH, shares this opinion, “The EHF has negotiated intensively with Viasat to strike this five-year deal. The sheer amount of interest in the EHF Champions League within this region shows exactly how strong the product has become over the past seasons. It goes without saying that we see this development as highly positive for handball in Hungary and Slovenia and for handball as a whole.”
The deal amounts to a highly significant increase in financial terms. This brings the economic dimensions of these markets up to the level of the sporting success, aligning them alongside other European markets. The contract with Viasat includes the production and coverage of all EHF Champions League matches within these markets, with the option of sub-licensing.
Representatives of Viasat are looking forward to working with the European Handball Federation, ”We are very much looking forward to a long term partnership with the European Handball Federation in connection with the Champions League. Handball is one of the most popular sports in Hungary, and we will do our outmost to present a top class coverage of both the men’s and women’s tournament on Viasat 3”, says Head of Programming Barbara Hamori.
Mart Luik, CEO, TV3 Slovenia mirrors this view, “This agreement underlines that TV3 is serious about having the best and most popular sports in Slovenia. In that respect Champions League handball with strong performances from local Slovenian teams fits perfectly in our portfolio i.e. Champions League in football and Euro08.”
EHF Marketing GmbH is looking forward to presenting elite club handball on such a professional network, “…we will not stop in our endeavour to bring a strong product to the consumers and secure the placement of EHF Champions League on the market. We want to see continual developments and are ultimately here to serve the sporting public with a top-class event!”
Coverage will begin on Viasat 3 in Hungary and TV3 in Slovenia as of the 2007/2008 European club handball season. The scheduling of the matches will follow, with the coordination of sublicensing with other channels.
Both the Hungarian and Slovenian markets have deep-rooted handball traditions running through them and handball clubs from both countries are amongst the highest ranked clubs in Europe. The deal underlines the ever increasing value of the EHF Champions League product and its firm positioning on the sporting market. Tor Lian, EHF President and Chairman of the EHF Marketing Advisory Board marks this contract as, “… a further milestone in the development of the Champions League product.”
Michael Wiederer, Managing Director of EHF Marketing GmbH, shares this opinion, “The EHF has negotiated intensively with Viasat to strike this five-year deal. The sheer amount of interest in the EHF Champions League within this region shows exactly how strong the product has become over the past seasons. It goes without saying that we see this development as highly positive for handball in Hungary and Slovenia and for handball as a whole.”
The deal amounts to a highly significant increase in financial terms. This brings the economic dimensions of these markets up to the level of the sporting success, aligning them alongside other European markets. The contract with Viasat includes the production and coverage of all EHF Champions League matches within these markets, with the option of sub-licensing.
Representatives of Viasat are looking forward to working with the European Handball Federation, ”We are very much looking forward to a long term partnership with the European Handball Federation in connection with the Champions League. Handball is one of the most popular sports in Hungary, and we will do our outmost to present a top class coverage of both the men’s and women’s tournament on Viasat 3”, says Head of Programming Barbara Hamori.
Mart Luik, CEO, TV3 Slovenia mirrors this view, “This agreement underlines that TV3 is serious about having the best and most popular sports in Slovenia. In that respect Champions League handball with strong performances from local Slovenian teams fits perfectly in our portfolio i.e. Champions League in football and Euro08.”
EHF Marketing GmbH is looking forward to presenting elite club handball on such a professional network, “…we will not stop in our endeavour to bring a strong product to the consumers and secure the placement of EHF Champions League on the market. We want to see continual developments and are ultimately here to serve the sporting public with a top-class event!”
Coverage will begin on Viasat 3 in Hungary and TV3 in Slovenia as of the 2007/2008 European club handball season. The scheduling of the matches will follow, with the coordination of sublicensing with other channels.