Official celebrations took place on Wednesday as part of the season-starting club workshops in Vienna with representatives of the 32 teams of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League and the EHF Champions League Women, as well as members of staff from the EHF and EHF Marketing in attendance.
EHF President Michael Wiederer took the audience on a short time travel, from the developments and challenges in European handball in the 1990s and early 2000s that eventually led to the foundation of EHF Marketing on 1 July 2005. From the humble beginnings with less than a handful of people running the operations all the way to the present, when almost 30 people are part of the EHFM.
Today, EHF Marketing works closely with marketing and media partners, as well as with Europe’s leading clubs, to release the full potential of the sport on the international sports market.
Its core responsibilities are the exploitation, organisation and promotion of the European club handball competitions, including the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, the EHF Champions League Women and the EHF European League.
Stronger together
In his speech, Michael Wiederer also praised the close and successful cooperation with the participating clubs, which forms a key pillar in the daily business.
“When the men's club board, the women's club board, and especially the advisory board, which consists of the same number of people coming from the clubs as from the EHF, come together to discuss strategic topics, we find a way to cooperate,” Wiederer said.
“It may seem that all that is more or less a thing between the clubs and the EHF, but it's about our product. We can only go to the market with the product, if we can cooperate, and if we have a common understanding.”
EHF Marketing Managing Director David Szlezak seconded in his opening remarks: “Tonight, we can truly say that we dared to rise over the past 20 years. Obviously, with a commercial mindset, but always rooted to our beloved sport and a lot of passion for handball in our hearts,” he said.
Awards and honours
The evening was also an opportunity to honour those who have contributed to the success story of EHF Marketing over the past 20 years.
At the end of their opening speeches, Michael Wiederer and David Szlezak handed out medals of recognition to former Chief Finance Officer Andrea Moser, former EHF Comptroller Helmut Schebeczek, EHF Chief Sports Officer Markus Glaser, EHF Executive Committee Member Franjo Bobinac, as well as to EHF Marketing Advisory Board Members Gerd Butzeck and Xavier O’Callaghan.
