International Handball Federation And SPORTFIVE Agree Exclusive Marketing And Media Rights Partnership

The International Handball Federation (IHF) and the global sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE have agreed today to comprehensively extend their existing partnership. SPORTFIVE will be responsible for the marketing of the worldwide media rights as well as the marketing rights for all IHF World Championships until 2031, starting with the 2023 Handball World Championships in Sweden and Poland as the first major event.

SPORTFIVE already serves as the rights holder for the worldwide media rights of the IHF World Championships up to and including 2025. The now signed contract not only extends the audiovisual rights including all IHF Youth, Junior and Beach Handball World Championships up to and including 2031. The sports marketing agency will also become the rights holder for all advertising rights for five Senior IHF Men’s and Women’s World Championships, the 2028 IHF Olympic Qualification Tournaments, the IHF Junior and Youth World Championships and the IHF Beach Handball Competitions (IHF Men’s & Women’s Beach Handball World Championships and the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour) until 2031.

This unique, comprehensive partnership between the IHF and SPORTFIVE is a real first: The IHF had previously marketed itself in sponsorship or entered into various cooperation agreements with different federations for selective rights.

As a holistic partner, the sports marketing agency will provide the IHF with its vast service portfolio alongside distribution, production and commercialization. Being the rightsholder of the TV and marketing rights to all World Championships, SPORTFIVE can take advantage of the complete value chain and offer partners all services from a single source to make the most out of a sponsorship to make the Handball World Championships the perfect platform for international brands, the global sports marketing agency strives for an even more international marketing orientation with a visible uniform set of equal official partners and will reduce national advertising messages to a minimum.

IHF President Dr. Hassan Moustafa:

“In the many years of our cooperation, we have come to know SPORTFIVE as a trustworthy and excellent partner. We are now looking forward to the next level of our partnership and are convinced that SPORTFIVE, with its huge experience and vast network, will give handball the worldwide attention that this unique sport deserves.”

Robert Müller von Vultejus, Chief Growth Officer at SPORTFIVE:

“We are more than proud that the IHF has entrusted us with this exciting new challenge. We have set ourselves ambitious goals: With our innovative marketing approach, we not only want to lift the world’s most important handball tournaments to a new level, but to make handball one of the most popular sports in the world after football.”