Finnish Handball stays on Solidsport

Päivi Mitrunen (Finnish Handball Federation) together with Sauli Silvonen (Solidsport).

The Finnish Handball Federation has since 2019 made a big effort in building a home for all live handball together with their teams and clubs – on all levels – thanks to a partnership with Solidsport. Now they aim for the next level after signing a three year extension.

Their whole journey started when hearing about the pioneer example of their Swedish federation colleagues in 2019. When they saw what they had accomplished together with Solidsport on the other side of the Baltic Sea, Finnish Handball Federation was convinced – they wanted to do the same.

There is no doubt that the number one reason for choosing Solidsport as our streaming partner in 2019 was the feedback we had received from the Swedish Handball Association. They were very clear when they told us that it was the best option for us if we wanted to offer a great streaming service for all our clubs and teams

– Päivi Mitrunen, Secretary General of the Finnish Handball Federation.

Since then, Finnish Handball has gone from just having a shared vision with Sweden to now also cover live streamed games and events from the highest mens and womens leagues to all grassroots levels.

“This is just the beginning”

130 teams and clubs have now started their own streaming channel on Solidsport and together attracted over 150 000 viewers over the years, including two years with tough pandemic restrictions.

“We’re very happy about the result that this cooperation has meant for us so far. It has been an important step for Finnish Handball, especially during the pandemic when streaming suddenly became the only option to watch handball for longer periods. At that point, we were very grateful that we already had Solidsport as a partner, just as all our teams and clubs. This is now an important part of our sport and now we all want to take this to the next level, says Mitrunen.

The new agreement still includes the top leagues for men and women, all official handball games and national team events at the same time as all handball teams and clubs will be encouraged to broadcast their games on all levels.

Handball was one of the first agreements we signed when we entered the market here in Finland. I’m of course very happy to be now to extend this partnership, so that we can continue to develop this partnership together. There is no doubt that we have already come far but with that being said, I’m confident that this is just the beginning.

– Sauli Silvonen, Country Manager of Solidsport Finland.