Sports showcases to enliven Germany venues

Article posted by Coliseum, July 8^th, 2021

Image: SAP Garden, Lackovic & Merkur Spiel-Arena

Come 2024, and it will be a happening year for Germany as far as the sporting calendar is concerned – a ‘super sports year’. Apart from the soccer extraordinaire Euro 2024, the European Handball Championship will also take place in Germany.

‘Kicker’ stated that the European Handball Federation (EHF) and German Handball Federation (DHB) are targeting a new world record attendance for a handball game buoyed up by Germany staging Euro 2024 in the same year.

The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17^th edition of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) European Championship, the quadrennial international men’s football championship of Europe organized by UEFA. It will be held in Germany.

The European Men’s Handball Championship is the official competition for senior men’s national handball teams of Europe and takes place every two years since 1994, in the even-numbered year between the World Championship.

The 2024 EHF European Men’s Handball Championship will be the 16^th edition of the tournament and the third to feature 24 national teams. It will be held in Germany from January 12^th to January 28^th, 2024.

Germany will play host to the national team tournament for the first time after being awarded the rights back in June 2018. Six venues have been chosen with Düsseldorf, Berlin, Mannheim, Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne to welcome Europe’s pick of the litter handball players in January 2024.

For the opening match of the spectacle in Düsseldorf, the DHB is making an attempt to break the world record for the number of fans at a handball match. The curtain-raiser will be played inside the City’s MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA, a 50,000-person stadium where otherwise football matches and concerts are held.

The ‘Kicker’ further stated that among the venues for the preliminary round matches are the 14,800-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, the 13,200-capacity SAP Arena in Mannheim, and the 11,500-capacity planned SAP Garden in Munich while the main round matches will be held at the 19,750-capacity Lanxess Arena in Cologne and the 13,300-capacity Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg.

The high point among the whole venues being picked up for the handball showcase is the 11,500-capacity indoor arena SAP Garden which is presently under construction in Olympiapark, Munich (Germany). It is expected to be completed in 2022 at the earliest. It is being built at the site of the former Radstadion which was demolished in 2015.

The final spectacle will be held at the spectacular Lanxess Arena in Cologne, which is arguably Europe’s most well-known arena for men’s handball.

Maintained DHB President Andreas Michelmann, “We made a conscious decision to go for large halls.”

Stated Mark Schober, Chairman, German Handball Federation, “We are planning the opening game in a football stadium. With 50,000 fans and a successful world record attempt, Düsseldorf should set the framework for a fantastic men’s EHF Euro 2024. All arenas hold more than 10,000 spectators. We want to build a great stage for the participating teams and their fans and for all those interested in handball.”

Added Martin Hausleitner, EHF General Secretary, “The Men’s EHF Euro is the undisputed flagship of our national team competitions. It inspires hundreds of thousands in the halls and millions in front of the television screens, and it is the platform for our sponsors and partners. The EHF Euro 2024 in Germany has all the prerequisites to set new standards and records in these areas. We are very much looking forward to working with the DHB.”

The DHB team has come out trumps in the European Championship twice so far: 2004 in Slovenia and 2016 in Poland.

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