“Every Champions League match is a celebration”

In the women’s competition, two quarter-final matches were attended by 5000 or more fans – in Bucharest (5000) and Györ (5209), followed closely by the match in Metz (4935). In total, five matches saw more than 5000 fans in the arenas, while 43 of 128 matches from the start of the group phase were attended by 3000 or more fans. In the men’s competition, a crowd of 15,200 saw Zagreb’s play-off draw against Montpellier after 12,600 handball-fanatic Croatians had attended their side’s victorious group match against Paris Saint-Germain. In total, 44 of the 128 matches this season were attended by 5000 or more fans. 

The total number speaks for itself; up to the play-offs, the men’s competition attracted 460,000 spectators, compared to the 425,000 from the 2022/23 season, which was already a record in the 16-team format. The EHF Champions League Women is even more encouraging, with a 24 per cent increase compared to last season. With 280,000 spectators (compared to 223,000 last season) this is also a record in the 16-team format. 

Those numbers show the general trend that almost all clubs have a higher number of spectators than before. Many clubs started initiatives and activities as well as special actions and attractions to bring more spectators to the matches after the pandemic and fill venues to a larger degree than in previous seasons. At the beginning of the season, the EHF, EHF Marketing and several clubs entered into an intense dialogue, in which qualitative analyses of the current situation were carried out together to identify the reasons for high or low viewer numbers. During the season, a quantitative spectator analysis was carried out as part of the initiative. 

This analysis proved, for example, that HC Zagreb (MCL) and Krim Mercator Ljubljana (CLW) rose like phoenixes in terms of fan support. They respectively multiplied their attendance by three and four to be among the teams with the most crowded arenas in Europe. Brest Bretagne Handball are among the top 3 in the EHF Champions League Women in terms of attendance (3915 spectators per game) and even number one in terms of occupation rate (the percentage of seats in an arena which are occupied). Brest managed to attract 20,000 spectators to its arena during January 2024 alone over five games including three EHF Champions League fixtures. Another great example are the Norwegian men’s champions Kolstad Handball: despite playing their first season in the Machineseeker EHF Champions League, they already have the best attendance with 7,000 spectators on average. 

But what have those clubs done to become such fan magnets? Brest Bretagne Handball and Kolstad Handball tell their stories: 

What marketing measures have been put in place to reach more fans?  

Brest Bretagne: For several seasons now our president Gérard Le Saint has had a strong objective that all matches at the Brest Arena take place in front of a full house. Thus, a ticket office with an “elevator price” (a price more or less expensive depending on the week) makes it possible to reach a maximum number of spectators. 

Kolstad: We used a lot of “organic” social media content, like our significant increase of followers on Tiktok and Instagram, direct marketing to local clubs – our campaign was called “bring your team to our matches”, radio adverts and special offers to different target groups, such as seniors and students. 

What did your fan activation campaigns look like?  

Brest Bretagne: Around the matches, we deploy numerous means to bring supporters to the Arena through poster campaigns in the city, advertising in the local media and, of course, targeted posts on the club's social networks with an important objective of reaching as many people as possible and creating interaction. 

Kolstad: For example, we used our internationally profiled players, such as Sander Sagosen, with an understandable message, clean and easy. 

Did you have any special offers or packages for the entire group phase?  

Brest Bretagne: We are fortunate in Brest to count on a large fan base with almost 2,000 subscribers for the EHF Champions League group phase (partners and supporters). This allows us to have a huge fan base present at each match since half of the arena is already full before the ticket office even opens. This season, we also carried out a special operation for January, when we had five home matches in the French league and the EHF Champions League called “20,000 spectators at the Brest Arena in January”. The goal? If we reach 20,000 spectators during this month, one spectator wins a dream holiday. We accomplished this mission with a subscriber who went to Thailand for three weeks. 

Kolstad: We sold EHF Champions League packages, which included the whole group phase. These packages represented approximately 700 spectators. However, we didn’t know for sure that we were going to play EHF Champions League around one month before the first match, and we believe we could have sold more if we had more time to market the packages. 

Have you involved your partners and sponsors in your fan activation?  

Brest Bretagne: Our partners actively participated in the entertainment in the arena with activities, stands and events dedicated to fans on match days. They are also part of a strong communication relay with our community. Finally, an important part is at the company level to encourage employees to come to the matches very regularly thanks to dedicated offers. 

Kolstad: Firstly, most of our sponsors bought packages and tickets for internal and external use, like for customers. We market this as an opportunity to do employer branding and customer ‘pleasing’. We also had some sponsors giving out tickets to local teams. Moreover, for some matches, we made special deals that our partners and sponsors could offer their employees and their families. Some of our sponsors arranged events around the match. 

What have you implemented in your arena in terms of shows, entertainment, VIP campaigns, kids and family campaigns on match days?  

Brest Bretagne: Another strength of our club is the presence of the “Hand Show” with a strong entertainment factor (concert, dance group, music) during each match for the VIP areas but also during half-time and timeouts. This is a trademark of the club and recognised by the spectators who also come for this show. In addition to this we regularly organise special events challenging our spectators. “Battles” between clubs, schools, and companies with prizes for the group that comes in the largest number and makes the biggest noise. 

Kolstad: We put a lot of pride and resources into the match day event. We always have an artist in the central circle as an opening show. We have flames and light shows as well. For the VIP concept, we also have local artists playing, and one of our coaches talking there about the match. We open the VIP area two hours before the match and serve a nice dinner and drinks. 

How important is it for your club to play in the EHF Champions League?  

Brest Bretagne: For the club, the EHF Champions League is a showcase. This is the premier competition that every club dreams of playing. So, it is very important for us to compete in the EHF Champions League which also contributes to the club's influence throughout Europe. Every EHF Champions League match is a celebration and an important element for the club. 

Kolstad: We have seen a massive increase in engagement in Trondheim, as well as the rest of the country. It is significant for Kolstad and our investment and project to play in the EHF Champions League.