The gradual unravelling of the European Handball Federation’s €500m deal

Welcome to Inside the Deal, the podcast which gets under the hood of the most interesting deals taking place in the global sports industry.In 2018, the Infront agency and streamer DAZN paid €500m for the rights to European handball from 2020 to 2030. It was a deal set to transform the financial health of handball for a decade.  But in 2023, DAZN unexpectedly stepped out. Then, in December 2025, in an even more dramatic turn of events, the federation agreed with Infront that the agency would scale back its role massively from July 2026, handing back many rights to the EHF’s in-house marketing team. Jonathan Rest, Global News Reporter of SportBusiness, tells the story of what happens when one man’s vision to transform the commercial fortunes of a sport bumps up against unforeseeable market realities.  You can subscribe to Inside the Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. Enter SBPODCAST30 at checkout for monthly and annual SportBusiness.com subscriptions for a 30-per-cent discount here. Host: Frank Dunne   Contributors: Jonathan Rest  Editor: Lumi Lehmuskallio   Links: 1 EHF to take fresh approach to marketing rights | SportBusiness Media 2 EHF seeking large uplift this autumn for unified offering | SportBusiness Media 3 EHF set for tender launch under new rights strategy | SportBusiness Media 4 Infront, Perform tie up rights to European handball | SportBusiness Media 5 EHF secures 300% increase as Infront and Perform join forces | SportBusiness Media 6 EHF kicks off Infront, DAZN pact with digital overhaul | SportBusiness 7 Machineseeker extends Champions League Men title sponsorship, EHF lands MOL as new partner | SportBusiness  8 Infront negotiates revised EHF deal upon DAZN exit | SportBusiness 9 DAZN deals with Dyn after ending EHF sales role | SportBusiness Media 10 Infront’s EHF club remit ends, keeps Euros role | SportBusiness  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.