The German Handball Association (DHB) has said it will hold a meeting with key powerbrokers of the sport next year in a bid to ensure its hosting of the 2017 Women’s World Championship receives coverage on free-to-air television in Germany.
The 2015 Women’s World Championship concluded in Denmark on Sunday, with Germany set to stage the next edition. Denmark 2015 marked another International Handball Federation event that failed to secure FTA exposure in Germany – a key market for the sport – and the DHB is determined this isn’t repeated in 2017.
DHB president Andreas Michelmann told German news agency DPA that a meeting will be held in the spring of 2016 which will include participation from the DHB, IHF; pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group, the tournament’s global rights distribution partner; German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF; and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).
Michelmann said: “We need for this (2017) World Championship wide television coverage on free-TV. That has to be secured at an early stage.”
The 2015 Men’s World Championship took place in Qatar from January 15 to February 1, with ARD and ZDF only securing rights for extracts of coverage from the tournament.
Under the deal with beIN Media Group, clips of games were shown in news and sports programmes. ARD and ZDF pulled out of talks to acquire live rights for the tournament late last year before pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland struck a deal for live coverage before the start of the event.