How is the league supporting clubs through common promotion, website, social media and so on?
Imre Balássy: Based on the legislation defined in the Sports Act, the professional league in Hungary can only operate within the framework of the Hungarian Handball Federation, and the League Association is an organisation within the federation. In recent years, professional teams have developed a need for a real representation, where through closer cooperation and providing real content, they could better fulfil their rights defined in the statutes within the framework of the federation.
As a result, the League Association does not have its own image other than incorporated in the federation's corporate identity. The clubs appear in social media with independent marketing, but there is always complete unity in one matter, and that is the national team. The Hungarian Handball Federation strives to create an image and appearance based on a uniform basis at the level of the clubs as well, which for the time being was formulated as a recommendation for the teams.
Are there any target groups you want to reach?
Imre Balássy: Our fundamental goal remains to improve the competitiveness of clubs – in the areas of predictability, planning, and transparency, as well as the protection of the internal market, thereby preserving our values. It is extremely important to maintain the competitiveness of handball and further increase its popularity both internationally at the national team and club level, and domestically compared to other sports in Hungary.
Keeping and increasing the existing fan base is our basic task, as more and more sports in our country want to be more successful and there is a big battle among sports for fans. Since there is a lot of competition in sports, handball clubs every year have to pay more attention to recruitment and retention of youth players, who provide the background to a sports organisation.
Success is very much needed to maintain the popularity of the sport. It is a huge progress, and thanks to all the club leaders for showing self-restraint and voting for decisions that served the interests of Hungarian handball. It was possible to put the interests of the members and thus of handball as a whole before individual interests.
How do you see the development of the Hungarian Women's Handball league in recent years?
Imre Balássy: We can definitely be proud of the international club successes of recent years. Györ and Ferencváros have been regular participants in the EHF Champions League for years, and last season, DVSC Schaeffler were also able to compete among the best and also qualified for the play-offs. The EHF FINAL4 Women, which was held in Budapest for the 10th time and ended with the victory of Györi Audi ETO KC, was a real handball celebration for us, with huge interest in Budapest. In addition, two or three of our teams always play in the EHF European League.
The level of the domestic women's championship has stagnated in recent years, but the results of this year's championship so far clearly indicate that behind our two internationally outstanding teams, the balance of power has equalised concerning other teams in the championship. I am very confident that this will lead to a further rise in standards, which is extremely important from the point of view of the success of the national team.