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EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS<br />
“On the sport level it<br />
was an extremely open<br />
tournament. I think this<br />
is a very good signal<br />
concerning European<br />
handball, that we have<br />
this renewal of teams”<br />
EHF President Jean Brihault after the EHF EURO 2016 in Poland<br />
On the final day of the 12th<br />
Men’s European Championship<br />
in Poland, Jean<br />
Brihault wallowed in superlatives.<br />
“EHF EURO 2016<br />
has been the biggest and the best EHF EURO<br />
event to date,” the EHF President said. The<br />
Frenchman took pride not only in record<br />
spectator numbers: 400,622 viewers<br />
clearly beat the previous record hit in the<br />
EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark (316,500).<br />
Brihault also praised the strong commitment<br />
of volunteers and organisers and<br />
highlighted the extraordinarily broad coverage<br />
by the media. “The EHF EURO 2016<br />
was a big success for Poland, for our sport<br />
and handball,” said Andrzej Kraśnicki, President<br />
of the Polish Handball Federation.<br />
“We want to thank all stakeholders including<br />
volunteers. We have one winner and the<br />
winner was handball.”<br />
Two months later, in April 2016, the EHF<br />
presented facts and figures that confirmed<br />
its first impression. In terms of reach, the<br />
EHF EURO 2016 was indeed a tournament<br />
of records, as announced by the EHF and<br />
Infront Sports & Media, its exclusive media<br />
and marketing partner for EHF EURO<br />
events. A cumulative audience of more<br />
than 1.65 billion people followed the action<br />
on television with the event screened<br />
in 175 territories by 75 broadcast partners.<br />
These results make the EHF EURO 2016<br />
the most-watched European Championship<br />
ever, breaking the previous record set<br />
in Serbia at the Men‘s EHF EURO 2012. In<br />
terms of broadcast hours, the event also<br />
surpassed all expectations with 2,958<br />
hours of coverage aired, a 27 per cent increase<br />
on the previous high at Men‘s EHF<br />
EURO 2014 in Denmark.<br />
The success of the German team in winning<br />
the title for the first time since 2004<br />
generated huge interest across the country,<br />
13 million tuning in to public broadcasters<br />
ARD for the final against Spain, a market<br />
share of 42 per cent. In other nations, too,<br />
there was widespread interest, especially<br />
Poland with a cumulative TV audience<br />
of more than 430 million, as well as tradi-<br />
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