French handball launches its online TV channel

The leaders of French handball announced the launch on Tuesday of their channel available online, Handball TV, which will offer matches and ancillary content, with several paid subscription formulas.

Gathered in Paris a few days before the start of the French handball championships, the men’s and women’s leagues, together with the French Handball Federation (FFH), unveiled the channel with the aim of “federating (the) communities” of sport, according to Philippe Bana, president of the FFH. Handball TV will offer two matches of the Women’s League (LFH) per day, and five of the Starligue, the French men’s championship, in addition to matches in the second divisions, certain matches of the French teams, including that of beach handball, and most beautiful posters of the Coupe de France. “We want to highlight our players, our coaches, everything the clubs do on a daily basis, explains Nodjialem Myaro, president of the LFH. Nevertheless, we also need other broadcasting channels, whether BeIn Sports, Sport in France or local television, and to respond to audiences of all ages, we must have this possibility of openness. BeIn Sports will continue to broadcast exclusively the three most beautiful posters of each day of the Starligue, and Sport in France will offer, like last season, one Women’s League match per day.

“Three million people to bring together”

Handball TV thus aims to give more visibility to the championships of one of the most successful French team sports at world and Olympic level, and will also show the sidelines of handball, with content offered by the clubs. “It is around three million people that we must bring together. We will have everything: the beach, the French Cup, the French teams, the things we see less, the hidden things, ”rejoiced Philippe Bana. In recent seasons, the LFH was broadcast on Sport in France, a channel of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) with free access, for lack of a contract with other broadcasters. Available for two months for free with promotional codes, the platform offers a monthly subscription offer at 4 euros per month without commitment, and another annual at 35 euros for twelve months. Next season, the channel will be available in applications for phones and tablets.

By broadcasting matches on the web, French handball aligns itself with other collective sports such as basketball and volleyball.