RAPORT_ang_v2

REPORT
Year of Men's European
Handball Championship
Host
1994 Portugal
1996 Spain
1998 Italy
2000 Croatia
2002 Sweden
2004 Slovenia
2006 Switzerland
2008 Norway
2010 Austria
2012 Serbia
2014 Denmark
2016 Poland
Matches were played in the following halls: TAURON Arena Kraków (19
matches), the Centennial Hall in Wrocław (17 matches), Spodek in Katowice
and Ergo Arena in Gdańsk (6 matches in each). 16 national teams with a total
number of 288 players participated in the tournament. During EHF EURO
2016, 48 matches were played and 2,629 goals were scores (55 goals per
match on average).
The European Handball Championship has never enjoyed such extensive
media coverage in its entire history. 1,284 journalists, photographers and
media support personnel from 29 countries and 4 continents worked during
the tournament in Poland (the previous record number of accredited
journalists was 711 at EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark).
The Polsat TV station installed 14 cameras in halls in Kraków and Wrocław
(with an extra spider cam in Kraków) and 10 cameras in halls in Gdańsk and
Katowice. Matches were broadcast to as many as 175 countries via 75 TV
broadcasters. Altogether, 6 TV studios were built in match venues.
EHF EURO 2016 set also a record in terms of press releases and their reach.
From 13 January till 2 February, 84,900 news about EHF EURO 2016 were
published, with over 4,000 mentions of the event appearing every day.
EHF EURO 2016 was also a record event with regard to the number of fans.
The tournament was watched by over 400,000 fans on the stands (including
40,000 fans from abroad) and additionally by almost 100,000 fans in Fan
Zones, which were created thanks to the support of PGNiG – the Strategic
Sponsor of Polish Handball. TV viewer ratings broke the record, too (altogether,
all matches were watched by 1.65 billion viewers around the world).
The average attendance was 8,000 fans per match, and halls were filled in
80% on the average. The highest attendance was recorded during matches
Poland – Croatia and the final Germany – Spain (15,000 fans in each case).
In the operational phase of the Tournament, Operational Teams consisting
of around 20 persons worked in each Host City, being responsible for the
preparation and service of the Tournament. In all 4 Cities, the event was
secured by 7,000 policemen, 165 doctors, male nurses and medical rescuers
and 840 voluntary workers, and a wide range of services was provided
by over 3,000 persons. The tournament was promoted by 34 Ambassadors.
Irrespective of their role during the tournament, all participants in EHF
EURO 2016 stressed one thing: extremely high organisational requirements
to meet and the presentation of a high-quality product portfolio by the Polish
Handball Federation. It was obvious for everyone that, although the Polish
team ranked ‘only’ 7th in terms of sport competition, the champion level
was certainly achieved in terms of organisation and hospitality.
According to satisfaction survey results, the Tournament was appreciated
by fans, media representatives, VIPs and players. On a scale of 1-7, where
‘1’ means ‘very bad’, and '7’ means ‘very good’, the average evaluation was
almost 6.22. This result was achieved due to a very high evaluation of factors
such as the atmosphere of the Championship, the preparation of infrastructure,
the organisation of work, the interior arrangement of facilities,
safety, transport, hotels and the work of voluntary workers and stewards.
However, the organisation of this Tournament would not have been possible
without the enormous commitment of Host Cities: Gdańsk, Katowice,
Kraków, Wrocław and the Małopolska Province. EHF EURO 2016 proved
that we not only have a very good sports infrastructure, but we can also
make good use of it.
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