MTG Scores EHF Euro Handball Rights for Scandinavia

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group has acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for the men’s and women’s 2016 and 2018 EHF European Handball Championships for Sweden, Norway and Denmark. 

MTG will broadcast matches on free- and pay-TV channels, as well as on the Viaplay online pay-TV service. Matches involving the local national teams, the semi-finals and the finals will be aired on MTG’s free-to-air channels. The agreement also covers the qualifying games for the 2014, 2016 and 2018 championships. 

Hans-Holger Albrecht, the president and CEO of MTG, commented: “Handball is a very popular sport in Scandinavia with a large and loyal fan base. We are delighted to have secured these rights and will make high quality coverage of the European Championships broadly available to our viewers. This is further evidence of our commitment to provide viewers with the very best sports content on multiple channels and platforms.”

Michael Wiederer, secretary general of the European Handball Federation, said: “Norway, Sweden and Denmark rank amongst the leading handball nations in Europe, and the EHF European Championships enjoy a huge following in these countries. We are confident that the coverage across the MTG free-TV channels of the men’s and women’s EHF EURO events will attract high audience ratings reaching millions of handball fans across Scandinavia”.

Stephan Herth, executive director of summer sports at Infront, added: “MTG is a specialist in sports broadcasting and has helped to boost many other properties in the past. The media company is therefore the right partner to engage the high public interest for handball in Scandinavia and give the EHF’s flagship events superb visibility across its various platforms. Covering three core territories for the sport, the agreement holds significant value for the future development of the sport in Europe.”