First 24 team EHF EURO ends in victory for Spain
Spain wrote their nation into the history books in January 2020, as they became the first to defend the EHF EURO title since Sweden last did so in 2002. Spain defeated Croatia in the final played in front of 17,769 spectators at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm.
The final capped an astonishing and memorable tournament. For the first time ever, three nations – Sweden, Austria and Norway – were joint hosts of an EHF EURO, and matches were played in six cities: Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg in Sweden; Vienna and Graz in Austria; and Trondheim in Norway.
It was also the first EHF EURO with 24 participating teams instead of the previous number of 16. 65 matches were played across the three weeks of competition.
European handball has definitely become more competitive in the new format. You really had to be on your toes right from the start, if you wanted to make it to the final weekend
Many records were broken during the tournament. On the court, Norway’s Sander Sagosen set a new high for the number of goals scored by one player at a single EHF EURO after netting 65 times.
Another record was the overall number of spectators. The old record of 400,000 fans at the EHF EURO 2016 in Poland had already been broken after the main round in 2020, with 420,000 spectators. By the end of the tournament, 500,000 fans had attended matches.
Of the three hosts, two ended the EHF EURO 2020 with their best-ever result at the European championship: Norway won bronze and Austria finished eighth.
Champions Spain qualified directly for the Olympic Games, and also booked their ticket for the World Championship 2021 in Egypt alongside Croatia and bronze medallists Norway
The competition delivered more data than ever before at a major championship, with live statistics from Kinexon and the iBall provided to fans, media and teams.
Digital strategy brings Men’s EHF EURO 2020 to millions
From a record of half-a-million spectators viewing inside arenas to the millions of people watching on television and online, the first EHF EURO to feature 24 teams in three nations captivated handball fans around the world.
The competition was screened by almost 90 broadcasters, while one million fans accessed EHFTV – with almost half of this number watching the action live on the platform.
EHF media and marketing partner Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, drove a record increase in online engagement.
There were almost two million fan engagements across all EHF social media channels, and over 23 million video views – an increase of 142 per cent compared to the 2018 edition. Social media followers grew by over 73,000 during the tournament alone. Automated videos and graphics using technology from Infront partners WSC and DEEP ensured fans had instant access to a broad range of customised content.
Minute.ly amplified the impact of the EHF video content, with artificial intelligence identifying the most engaging moment of every clip and helping increase click-through rates for articles by up to 57 per cent. Videocites measured the full impact of content produced through its extensive video analytics offering. Finally, Antourage delivered live and interactive behind-the-scenes content exclusively accessed through a widget in the tournament’s app. All five companies were introduced by Infront Lab.
More than 125,000 fans downloaded the official EHF EURO app and 20,000 participated in the All-star Team vote. The official EHF EURO 2020 website reached over 30 per cent more fans aged 18-24 than the previous edition.
Official sponsors of the Men’s EHF EURO were also able to take advantage of the improved digital approach. Pump manufacturer Grundfos presented the Grundfos Player of the Match award and combined it with a water donation to those in need.
A highlight video and an additional fan quiz were distributed on Grundfos’ own social media channel and amplified by EHF networks, reaching almost 4.4 million timelines and resulting in over 240,000 interactions.