Handball lovers rave about the new TV platform.
But the clubs are adamant that the choice was the right one.
So they also get as much, or probably more, money compared to before.
There is a storm around the handball league’s new television platform.
Handball lovers, like Sportbladet’s TV columnist Marcus Leifby, rage over the high pricing and the initial broadcasts have been characterized by technical confusion.
Swedish Elite Handball (SEH) chose, when the five-year agreement with C More expired this spring, to sell the rights to Infront and launch its own digital television platform – Handbollsligan Live together with the French company.
One could imagine that the clubs are not very happy with the new solution and now fear that the interest in both leagues (ladies and men) will decrease
“This will spread handball more”
But when Sportbladet talks to several club leaders, they still have a strong belief in Handball League Live.
– I think it will be good in the long run. It was important that we got well-produced matches and that there were no AI cameras or posted in the clubs. Of course, the price is a problem, but I think that sports rights will be more expensive for the consumer in the future, we are only early, says Hammarby’s CEO Kalle Matsson and summarizes quite well what his colleagues in the other clubs think when Sportbladet calls five of them around.
– I think it will be great. But technically there have been quite a lot of childhood illnesses now in the beginning. I think this solution will spread handball more as it provides more highlight clips and is seen more in the clubs’ own channels, says Önnered’s sports manager Christoffer Persson.
But they really had no other options, according to several club managers.
– This was the only option if we wanted the same quality of production as last year, says Olof Ljungberg, club manager in Karlskrona.
The thing is also that the new television agreement actually gives Swedish Elite Handball more money than the old one, which of course played a big role when the clubs are on their knees financially. As Sportbladet was able to reveal on Friday, the 14 clubs in the men’s league went back a full 30 million kroner last season.
The ladies get more than before
According to an informed source, the “club compensation”, i.e. the amount the clubs receive in basic form per year from SEH and which includes TV money and central sponsorship agreements, will increase on the men’s side from SEK 600,000 per year and club to SEK 700-800,000. This despite that a major sponsor has dropped out for this season, but where the TV money has increased so much that in the end there will be more.
No one wants to mention or comment on any sums in the agreements.
– In any case, there will be no less money than before, says league manager Peter Gentzel.
The women’s clubs are getting more money than before in the new TV deal and the distribution between the ladies and the men is being evened out, according to Gentzel.
– But the men take a significantly larger share of the costs as well, he says.
Then, just like before, there are smaller bonuses for teams 1–8 in the series on the men’s side, and the Swedish champions on both the women’s and men’s sides receive SEK 100,000 in bonuses from ATG.
There is also a potential bonus element for the clubs in the TV deal. If the clubs succeed in selling enough TV subscriptions, which sounds doubtful at the moment, there will be additional money.
– There are a lot of possibilities, says Gentzel.
The idea was that the club that sold the most subscriptions would get the most money, but it could not be solved administratively, but now the clubs share in solidarity on any television bonus.
