Cooperation agreement between EHF and European top clubs confirmed through to 2030

The EHF and Forum Club Handball have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a meeting of the Forum Club Handball (FCH) board in Mallorca, Spain on Monday 16 October 2017.

The signing of the agreement follows formal approval of the terms of the MoU by the FCH Board. An according mandate was given during the FCH General Assemblies during the VELUX Final4 in Cologne in 2016 and confirmed in 2017.

The EHF and Forum Club Handball signed the first MoU in 2010 and subsequently renewed the agreement in 2014. The current agreement expires in June 2018.

Following intensive negotiations, the two bodies have decided to further extend their cooperation through to 2030.

Commenting on the agreement, EHF President, Michael Wiederer, said: “The EHF has a long tradition of dialogue with top clubs and we share the common goal of strengthening top-class handball. We see it as the responsibility of the EHF to bring together both club and national team interests on one platform, and the signing of this new agreement will provide us with a solid basis in order to take the whole of the sport to an even higher level.”

The President of Forum Club Handball, Xavier O’Callaghan, said: “The new MoU is a milestone in the history of the relationship between clubs and federations. We will now become real partners, with each contributing with their own assets. This is what we have been looking for from the very beginning. Now we hope to build a common future and continue to improve handball at a club level.”

Long-term agreement

The signing of the MoU through to 2030 further supports the EHF in its ongoing tender process for the audio-visual and marketing rights for its top club and national team competitions.

The tender, which launched on 18 September, has generated strong interest and qualified companies have until 15 November 2017 to submit their proposals.

Audio-visual and marketing rights are available on a modular basis for club competitions including the EHF Champions League, EHF Cup and Challenge Cup as well as national team competitions.

Terms of MoU

The new MoU covers structural issues, including representation within the Professional Handball Board and EHF Executive Committee, as well as developments on a technical level.

The two bodies have also agreed the terms for the release of players for national team weeks and European Championships. This includes compensation for the release of players and insurance for players injured during these periods.

Further changes will see a repositioning of the marketing strategy for top club competitions with EHF and club rights to be bundled within EHF Marketing GmbH.

A joint company is to be created with equal number of board representatives from the EHF and FCH. This company will run the Men’s CL business. The interests of clubs in the marketing process will be further represented by the appointment of a second managing director for EHF Marketing GmbH. All FCH member clubs will receive detailed information and a copy of the MoU on 19.10.2017. GB

A number of leading European Clubs, including Barcelona, Kiel, Kielce and Veszprem, pooled their TV and Marketing Rights for international Club Handball as of season 18/19 on occasion of the VELUX EHF CHAMPIONSLEAGUE draw. Related documents were signed in Ljubljana last Friday.

The European Top Clubs expressed the wish of a cooperation between clubs, EHF and International Management Group (IMG) in the future.

Earlier this year EHF announced on the fringes of the VELUX CL Final4 that it is intended to launch a call for a tender for the Champions League rights as of 2020. At the same time the clubs regard themselves to be the owner of their TV and Marketing Rights, once the current MoU expires on 30^th June 2018.

In order to prepare European Club Handball for the future, FCH and EHF will shortly start negotiations on a new ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) for the next term, commencing on 1^st July 2018.

The 17th General Assembly of Forum Club Handball took place on the fringes of the EHF VELUX FINAL4 in Cologne on 4^th June. For the first time ever IHF-President Hassan Moustafa attended the club meeting.

He and EHF-President Michael Wiederer took the chance to inform on the latest developments in IHF and EHF.

Moustafa thanked for the invitation and declared that he is always ready to listen to the clubs as the main actors in handball. He made the proposal to add the clubs as stakeholders to the IHF statutes. The proposal was very much appreciated by the participants. According steps will be taken.

Wiederer used the chance to report on the contractual situation in EHF and EHFM. All important contracts expire in 2020. EHF/M is in the process of preparing a tender for the rights (EHF EUROs and Champions League) for the period 2020 onwards. The CL rights shall be sold for a 10-year-period 2020 until 2030. Prior to that decision the MoU between FCH and EHF/M must be negotiated/prolonged accordingly.

The FCH representatives in the various EHF/M bodies reported on their activities in detail.

A group 10 European Top Clubs (Barcelona, Celje, Flensburg, Kiel, Kielce, Kolding-Copenhagen, Montpellier, Schaffhausen, Vardar, Veszprem) presented a concept for a new Champions League system as of season 18/19. Therefore these clubs intend to set up Joint-Venture with International Management Group (IMG). The concept which has been presented to EHF/M in various meetings, foresees that EHF will be the regulatory body, being in charge of refereeing and other important parts. It is the target to establish a real European League with 12 or 14 or 16 teams and a Round-Robin system, followed by Quarterfinals and Final4. Further details and financials were explained to the participants. According to the concept IMG will provide financial guarantees for the next 10 years. The vision is to have a premium product to be presented to the handball fans throughout the whole year.

The assembly discussed the proposal.

The following decisions were taken unanimously:

1. The MoU between EHF/M and FCH expires in June 2018. The President and the Managing Director of FCH received the mandate to sign a new ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) with EHF, if the FCH Board takes the according decision.
2. The participants decided to pool the TV, Media- and Marketing rights of all clubs, willing to participatein the top European Handball competitions (currently VELUX Champions League, EHF Cup, Challenge Cup) as of season 18/19 in FCH, in order to transfer these pooled rights jointly to the company/companies in charge of selling TV, Media and Marketing rights (currently EHFM) as of season 18/19.
3. The President and the Managing Director of FCH received the mandate to sign an agreement with IHF, if the FCH Board takes the according decision.
4. FCH Honorary member Joan Marin was elected as FCH representative for the ‘Working Group Seeding 17/18’.
5. FCH will move its office to Luxembourg. Therefore the board of FCH is instructed and authorized to set up a new FCH in Luxembourg as soon as possible in order to guarantee a smooth transition.

The next ordinary General Assembly will take place in Zagreb on 26^th/27^th January 2018.                                               GB