Having begun their sponsorship in 2017 as regional partners, they played an active sponsorship role in all areas of the competition. With the new deal, the Gorenje brand will upgrade its commitment to become a premium partner of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League until the end of the 2024/25 season.
The enhancement of the partnership ensures that Gorenje will have a presence at all arenas plus inclusion in all marketing activities and communications of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League. Furthermore, Gorenje will strive to advance activations on different digital channels such as the exclusive interview series “Timeout for Champions” conducted around every Match of the Week of the competition on the official EHFCL Instagram channel.
The expansion of the partnership is a reflection of the strong efforts and positive results achieved in past seasons. The competition’s reach on digital and TV has been growing considerably since Gorenje’s entry as a sponsor in the 2017/18 season. Digital reach has almost doubled, from 246 million in 2018/19 to 450 million in the 2021/22 season. And the cumulative TV audience stands at 332 million in the 2021/22 season, with the 30th edition of the competition to be shown by 30 broadcasters in over 80 territories.
David Szlezak, EHF Marketing Managing Director, said: “We are delighted to extend and expand our partnership with Gorenje for another three seasons.Gorenje, who will from now on be a premium partner of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, will enjoy extensive exposure across the European market. We are very much looking forward to creating innovative opportunities through our partnership and to further develop and promote Europe’s top-level club handball competition together with Gorenje.”
Alenka Potočnik Anžič, Marketing Director Hisense Europe, said: “Over the years we, at Hisense Group, have sponsored big sporting events and team sponsorships, where our global brand Gorenje is supporting handball on European markets for the last 5 years and on the Slovenian market for over 30 years. We will continue to do so, as that is something that our customers expect from us across Europe – they very positively value our support and reward us with loyalty when buying new home appliances. We are looking forward to new opportunities that we will create with one simple goal in mind to simplify daily life with our home appliances, so our customers will have time to enjoy handball matches.”
Anja Zankl, Marketing Director Hisense Gorenje Germany, emphasised: "Handball is one of the most popular team sports in Germany and I am really happy that Gorenje brand is a premium partner of the Machineseeker EHF Champions League that will help raise awareness and quality of Gorenje brand on the German market. Recent surveys have shown that, with 24% brand awareness, we are one of the leading companies perceived in European handball. Of course, this makes us proud and encourages us to continue our commitment! With this success behind us, we are even more looking forward to the new season and to supporting top-class sport as an official partner in the future.”