EHF FINAL4 Women stays in Hungary until 2027

The EHF FINAL4 Women, the final weekend of the EHF Champions League Women and the premium event of women’s club handball, will continue to be played in Budapest’s MVM Dome until 2027.

The three-year extension of the agreement between the Hungarian Handball Federation (HHF), the Hungarian National Event Management Agency (NEMA), the European Handball Federation and its marketing arm, EHF Marketing, was announced at a joint press conference at the MVM Dome on Friday.

Budapest has been the home of the EHF FINAL4 Women since 2014. The event was first hosted in the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna before it moved to the new MVM Dome in 2022 which had been opened only months earlier for the Men’s EHF EURO 2022 in Hungary and Slovakia.

In 2023, a world record crowd for women’s handball matches was set with 20,022 spectators attending the semi-finals as well as the final matches.

Since the inaugural EHF FINAL4 Women in 2014, four different teams have stood on top of the winners’ podium. Györi Audi ETO KC won four times (2014, 2017-19), Vipers Kristiansand three times (2021-23), WHC Buducnost BEMAX (2015) and CSM Bucuresti (2016) one time each.

The event’s tenth edition is coming up with Team Esbjerg facing Györi Audi ETO KC and Metz Handball playing SG BBM Bietigheim on Saturday 1 June in the semi-finals. The final matches take place on 2 June.

Michael Wiederer, EHF President, said: “The new joint agreement until 2027 is an important step for the further development of women’s handball. Since 2014 we have elevated the sport to new heights and have given it the platform and exposure it deserves. Staying in Budapest and at the MVM Dome for three more years now provides the opportunity for the EHF and EHF Marketing and its trusted partner at the HHF and NEMA to develop it further and cement the event’s status as the European ‘must-visit-event’ for women’s indoor sports.”

David Szlezak, Managing Director EHF Marketing, commented: “Over the past 10 years, the success of the EHF FINAL4 Women has been built on three pillars. It is a celebration of handball for thousands of fans; it captures and creates unforgettable moments for players and ultimately provides valuable opportunities for partners. Since 2014 we have been crafting a sound foundation for sustainable success which we will now expand and grow together with the HHF and NEMA.”

Ferenc Ilyés, HHF President, emphasised: “We are very happy that the event will also take place in Hungary in the future. Right from the beginning, the HHF tried to redound to that just like for the men, the final games of the European women's club handball’s premium competition should take place in an environment like this, and our federation was the first to apply for the organisation of the EHF FINAL4. Together with the European Handball Federation, EHF Marketing, the National Event Management Agency and with the support of the Hungarian state, we are able to organise this elite event at an elite level, and we work to be worthy of the trust that our partners and the European handball family provide.”

Photos © Kolektiff Images