Online gambling operator Kindred Group has agreed a deal with the Infront agency for its Unibet brand to sponsor the European Handball Federation’s men’s and women’s European Championships next year.
The agreement extends Unibet’s commitment to handball. The company also sponsored the women’s 2018 EHF Euros in France, while in January it agreed a deal to sponsor the men’s World Championship in Denmark and Germany.
The latest agreement, which was brokered by Infront, means the men’s EHF Euro 2020 has sold out all eight ‘Official Sponsor’ packages available. Unibet joins Grundfos, Engelbert Strauss, Gorenje, Intersport, Liqui Moly, Lidl and Bauhaus as an official sponsor.
German insurance firm Europa Versicherungen was also recently brought on as an official partner of the men’s event. As part of that agreement, the company’s logo will appear on the shirt sleeves of every player during the 24-team tournament.
The EHF’s new 10-year media and marketing rights agreement with Infront and media company DAZN Group covers club and national team competitions and runs from 2020 to 2030. However, the agreement excludes the 2020 EHF Euros as they were part of a previous deal with Infront.
Julien Ternisien, senior vice-president of summer sports at Infront, said: “Kindred Group’s decision to expand their presence at the EHF Euros speaks volumes about the impact its sponsorship had at the women’s event in 2018. In addition, the fact all eight packages have been sold for the men’s event highlights the value sponsors continue to put in men’s handball.”
Martin Hausleitner, secretary general of the European Handball Federation, added: “The fact that all eight sponsorship packages have been sold is great news and underlines the attractiveness of handball for companies as we are looking forward to staging the biggest EHF Euro to date next month.”
As part of its sustainability strategy, Kindred Group is committed to contributing to communities and will therefore collaborate with a relevant non-governmental organisation for its Euro 2020 deal in an effort to ensure that sponsorship exposure rights are used to maximise impact on both brand and corporate purpose level.
The men’s Euro 2020 take place in Sweden, Austria and Norway from January 9-26 with a record 24 teams set to compete. The women’s tournament will be held in Denmark and Norway from December 3-20.
