After the medal successes of the German handball women and men, the interest of the spectators should be captured this time. Dyn boss Christian Seifert explains what role the clubs play in this. Five million fans still don’t have a favorite club.
The media company Dyn as well as the federal leagues and the association want to take handball to a new level after winning the silver medals for women at the World Cup and for men at the European Championships. “Now handball is actually no longer on the launching pad, but now the rocket is slowly leaving the base,” said Dyn founder and partner Christian Seifert at a press conference on the sidelines of the SpoBis sports business conference in Hamburg.
Almost 13 million viewers watched the lost European Championship final of the German Handball Association (DHB) against Denmark on ZDF, while around 200,000 viewers watched the Dyn streaming service. The audience gathered around a campfire. “Like back then with ‘Wetten, dass..?’,” said DHB board member Mark Schober.
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This momentum should now be taken with us. “We are the locomotive of world handball,” said Frank Bohmann confidently. The managing director of the Handball Bundesliga (HBL) league association also added: “Handball will be nothing if HBL and DHB don’t give full throttle.”
Five million handball fans still without a favorite club
Seifert identified the clubs as an “emotional anchor”. The Dyn boss said that just over nine million people in Germany describe themselves as handball fans. But: “There are five million handball fans out there who don’t have a favorite club yet. If I were a club, I would know what I’m doing now.” Bohmann added that people need to recognize that Andreas Wolff is not only the goalkeeper of the German national team, but also of the THW Kiel.
Big challenges would await the clubs in the coming months. “The next 18 months will decide the future of handball in Germany,” said Seifert. The Dyn founder suggested changes to the clubs. “Maybe I’ll save squad players 16, 17 or 18 and maybe hire someone else for marketing.”
Don’t be afraid of the NBA’s European plans
At least the HBL is not afraid of plans like the North American basketball league NBA to expand into Europe. 44 players from the HBL took part in the two semi-finals of the European Championship. Bohmann: “The HBL is the NBA of handball.”
For Christian Seifert, “everything depends on people’s attention. And that’s there now.” Handball has the next chance to prove itself in January 2027 at the latest. Then the men’s world championship is on the program in Germany.
lwö/dpa
