20,022 fans came to the MVM Dome in Hungary’s capital on Saturday to witness the semi-finals – Györi Audi ETO KC vs Vipers Kristiansand and FTC Rail-Cargo Hungaria vs Team Esbjerg – at the season-ending event of the EHF Champions League Women.
The previous record for women’s handball matches stood at 19,467 spectators set at the final of the IHF Women’s World Championship 2013 between Serbia and Brazil in Belgrade on 22 December 2013.
The EHF FINAL4 Women had already set a record for attendance at club matches last year when 15,400 fans were inside the MVM Dome for the 2022 final between Györi Audi ETO KC and Vipers Kristiansand.
EHF President Michael Wiederer said: "This is a fantastic milestone for women’s handball and an enormous proof for the constantly growing quality of the game: not only concerning the teams’ performance on court but also in terms of event organisation and professionalism around it. Since 2014 EHF Marketing together with the Hungarian Handball Federation as local organisers have been working tirelessly to set new standards for women’s handball year after year; and today they have clearly reached new heights."
EHF Marketing Managing Director David Szlezak said: "After an outstanding premiere in the MVM Dome last season, we have been building on this success and are tremendously proud to celebrate a world record at the EHF FINAL4 Women 2023. This underlines the importance and attractiveness of our premium club competition which is a great asset for partners and brands willing to incorporate women’s sport in their communication portfolio. It is important for us to create an outstanding event with the best conditions for players, teams, partners and fans, and deliver a great experience and coverage to handball fans across the world. The great cooperation with the Hungarian Handball Federation as local organisers makes this possible year after year and we are eager to keep evolving and continue to make history."
President of the Hungarian Handball Federation Ferenc Ilyés said: "We are very proud that EHF FINAL4 Women holds the world attendance-record in women's handball from today and that this record belongs to Budapest, Hungary. The Hungarian Handball Federation, together with the European Handball Federation and EHF Marketing has worked very hard since 2014 to organise a high-quality event. I would like to thank all of my colleagues and partners for their efforts. All teams, the entire European handball family as well as Hungarian handball can be proud of this record. 'Be part of history' - as the claim of this season's EHF Champions League says. We are very happy that this record crowd can be part of this historical event."
Next record set to be broken
The world record hunt in international handball continues when the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 (10-28 January) takes place in Germany next year.
The tournament’s opening matches will take place in the MERKUR Spiel-Arena with a capacity of more than 50,000 seats. A sold-out opening on 10 January would mark an overall attendance world record for indoor handball.
The current record, also set in Germany, stands at 44,189 set on 6 September 2014 at the match Rhein-Neckar Löwen vs. HSV Hamburg which was played in Frankfurt’s football arena.
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