The European Handball Federation has made the next step as part of its 360-degree digital strategy, announcing the launch of its own 'Home of Handball' channel on Twitch, the interactive live streaming service, on Thursday.

The move complements the federation’s latest efforts to grow audiences, engage and entertain them beyond the 60 minutes of the game and lay the foundation for a long term-growth of the sport.

In particular, it chimes in with recent successes to reach new fans within a younger audience which saw the EHF’s ‘Home Of Handball’ TikTok channel growing by 90,000 followers (+600%) since December 2020.

The new Twitch channel joins the ‘Home of Handball’ digital platform ecosystem, which stretches from the EHF’s website to a presence on all major social media platforms including TikTok, and follows the ecosystem’s philosophy of being the one-stop shop for the best handball content from the continent.

Thomas Schöneich, EHF Director Media & Communications, said: "Our ‘Home of Handball’ ecosystem is growing and adding Twitch to it is the right move at the right time in order to grow our fanbase and reach new audiences in the future. We’re are looking forward to bringing more and exclusive European handball continent to our fans via Twitch."

Premiere broadcast on Friday

With the launch of the channel, the first shows and broadcasts have already been planned and scheduled.

On Friday 21 May, a preview show for the DELO EHF FINAL4 in Budapest (29/30 May) will be the premiere broadcast on the new channel.

It will feature EHFTV commentator Chris O’Reilly as well selected players of the four participating teams including Estelle Nze Minko (Györi Audi ETO KC), Katrine Heindahl (CSKA), Djurdjina Jaukovic (Brest Bretagne Handball) and Henny Reistad (Vipers).

A five-episode fan show, including three-time EHF Champions League winner Anja Althaus and hosted by Markus Floth, offering exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes content is already planned for the DELO EHF FINAL4 as such, with broadcasts scheduled for Friday 28 May, Saturday and Sunday, directly from the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna.

The week after, court 1 action from the European Beach Handball Tour Finals in Torrox, Spain can be viewed exclusively on Twitch from 3 to 6 June, before the fan show makes return at the EHF FINAL4 Men (12/13 June) in Cologne, this time featuring, among others, former German international Dominik Klein.

With the launch of the new Twitch channel, the European Handball Federation adds another piece of the puzzle in its quest of becoming the most attractive team in sport in Europe in the next decade.

Within the handball realm, the EHF positions itself at the forefront when it comes to the presence on digital channels and once more underlines its key strategic focus to grow the appeal of the sport, particularly to younger audiences, through an enhanced digital offering.