Sweden report two sell-outs 50 days before EHF EURO 2020 throw-off
Sweden report two sell-outs 50 days before EHF EURO 2020 throw-off
The biggest Men’s EHF EURO in history promises to live up to its billing with all three host nations reporting ever-growing demands for tickets in the lead-up to throw off on 9 January.
With 50 days to go until the action begins across three European nations for the first time, Sweden have already sold out for two matches, Austria are experiencing increasing numbers of ticket sales while Norway has expanded the arena capacity.
Sell-outs for the Swedes
Interest in Sweden has been so high that the Swedes’ game against Switzerland in Gothenburg and neighbours Denmark’s tie against Iceland in Malmö have sold out.
Sweden, aiming for their fifth European title, will be backed by over 11,000 fans inside the Scandinavium arena in Gothenburg against Switzerland on 10 January.
The following day, thousands of Danish fans will make the trip to the Malmö Arena to support their team in their Group E opener against Iceland.
“It’s a great feeling to have sold out for two fixtures 50 days prior to game day,” said Handball CEO of the Swedish Organising Committee for EHF EURO 2020, Krister Bergström. “We know that the Swedish handball team is very popular but to sell-out two arenas with capacities of 11,000 is completely unexpected.”
Germans and Croatians heading for Austria
In Austria, where matches will be played in the capital Vienna and Graz – who both played host at EHF EURO 2010 – there has been a high demand from fans from the Balkan countries and Germany.
Over 40 per cent of tickets for matches taking place in Austria have been sold to fans living in either Germany or Croatia.
Two-time silver medallists Croatia begin their EHF EURO 2020 campaign in Graz in Group A, while Germany would play their main draw matches in Vienna – should they advance from Group C in the preliminary round.
Trondheim plans for possible capacity increase
The Norwegian Handball Federation has expanded the seating capacity of the newly built Trondheim Spektrum for the competition after the venue hosted one men’s and one women’s fixture in the Norwegian top flight, the REMA 1000-ligaen, which both attracted crowds of over 7,000 fans.
This means that the overall capacity in the arena has increased to approximately 9,000 seats.
“We learned from our recent test events that we could roll out a few more seat rows on both sides of the court, giving us an opportunity to sell approximately 300 extra seats,” explained Per Olav Hopsoe, Head of the Local Organising Committee in Trondheim. “The events were very successful and as a host, we learned a lot from them to make us even better equipped to deal with the demand for EHF EURO 2020.”
Given the increase in interest, fans are encouraged to snap up tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment by saving their seat and visit ehf-euro.com to buy.
