Handball: a last minute agreement saves the broadcast of the European Cups in France

Metz, reigning European champion, and the eleven other French clubs involved this season in the Champions League and the European League almost found themselves without a broadcaster a few days before the start of European competitions. But they finally escaped this disaster scenario at the last minute.

The Messines match at Storhamar will finally be broadcast on beIN Sports on Saturday (6 p.m.). That of Brestoises will be on HandballTV, the streaming platform of the French Handball Federation. An agreement concluded at the last minute between the FFHB, the EHF and beIN Sports, the French “historical broadcaster of handball” according to Philippe Bana – the boss of French handball – finally made it possible to avoid the black screen. This agreement for two seasons also applies to men's matches. Next week, Nantes and PSG will have their slot on the pay channel, when the trip from Montpellier to Bucharest will be broadcast on HandballTV.

Since 2020, Eurosport has held the exclusive rights to broadcast the European club competitions (Champions League and EHF European League), men's and women's, for six seasons. This contract expired at the end of the 2025/2026 season, leaving the FFHB without an identified broadcaster as the new season approaches. However, French clubs played the leading roles on the European scene last season, especially among women, with two clubs in the Final Four of the Champions League - Metz and Brest -, and another, Dijon, winner of the European League.

The FFHB is betting big on HandballTV

The concern was still real a few days ago. “It’s annoying, it’s rubbish! It’s another step backwards for women’s handball,” said French international Chloé Valentini, captain of Metz Handball, during the back-to-school day at the Maison du handball in Créteil. It then received the full support of its president Thierry Weizman, whose position has changed since the announcement of the broadcasting agreement. “I am very satisfied with this outcome,” he assured franceinfo: sport.

Philippe Bana, however, refuses to present this agreement as an improvised solution. “It’s a plan A on which we have been working with the NHL (National Handball League) and the LFH (Women’s Handball League) for more than six months,” he told franceinfo: sport. The Federation intends to position itself “as a guarantor of the dissemination and notoriety of our winning handball clubs”.

“It is very common today that broadcasters no longer wish to pay rights or with very, very low amounts,” explains Christophe Lepetit, sports economist at the CDES (Center for Sports Law and Economics) in Limoges. “Even more so on complementary products such as the Handball Champions League and certain domestic women's competitions, such as La Boulangère Wonder League in basketball.”

For Christophe Lepetit, it is a project that satisfies the majority: "the EHF has an interest in its competitions being visible", "the Fédé is partnering with a leading premium media" and "handball fans have the opportunity to see all the matches that interest them". However, the amount of the operation has not been communicated, even if Philippe Bana affirms that it is “in millions of euros”.

Less dependence on the TV rights market

The platform, which is currently only available online (OTT), has around 100,000 accounts but only 20,000 paying subscribers. The boss of the FFHB hopes to multiply the number of HandballTV subscribers by five. A special rate of 47 euros per year is available for licensees. Enough to “recover monetizable data”, estimates the specialist in sports economics. “The possible problem is that the Federation will have to make a major communication, as well as all the clubs to clarify that the matches are visible on HandballTV and explain how to access them,” explains Christophe Lepetit.

“The advantage of television is that it is a regular product. Where handball fans will have to search and pay more to see their teams.”

Christophe Lepetit

at franceinfo: sport

An obstacle which is not one for Philippe Bana since he assures franceinfo: sport that “discussions are underway on this subject”. HandballTV, which has existed since 2022, aims to establish itself permanently in the broadcasting of French handball matches. The platform already has the rights to all professional national championships, as well as those of the French teams, co-owned with mainstream media. “Today, our platform is also a good observatory of media consumption of our sport. We have great locomotives like Brest, Metz, PSG, Nantes, Montpellier, as well as the French team,” says Philippe Bana.

Production is ensured by the European federation, "which was the subject of very, very long negotiations with the EHF and beIN because it is a new operation", specifies Philippe Bana. This makes it possible to limit costs on the side of the two co-broadcasters and to concentrate on comments, inside topics in clubs and interviews with players. “This also allows rights holders such as federations and leagues to take control of their destiny over their broadcasting and therefore to be less dependent on the vagaries of the TV rights market,” explains Christophe Lepetit. To the point of setting this project up as a model for the future?

“There still remains the problem of monetization,” for the sports economist. He sees it more as a complement to free or paid general public distribution. “When a championship like Ligue 1 does not have a broadcaster in the United States for example, I see the benefit of launching an OTT platform, as a complement to emerging markets,” he explains. “For sports that do not have TV coverage, this makes it possible to avoid the black screen and to have a form of accessibility that technology today makes possible. Pay attention to the quality of the production, the players all have an interest in putting resources into it.”