The senior handball official is calling on those in charge of sport to capitalise on the momentum generated by the Women’s Basketball World Cup.
Senior official Bob Hanning hopes the Women’s Basketball World Cup, held on home soil, will provide a boost for women’s sport as a whole. “We’ve witnessed thrilling performances from our national team – really good sport, really good entertainment,” Hanning told the Sport-Informations-Dienst (SID): “This tournament was perfect promotion for women’s sport.”
Over the ten days of the tournament at two venues in Berlin, the attendance record for a Women’s Basketball World Cup was clearly broken. The German team’s matches were very well attended, with a total of 236,015 fans flocking to the Uber Arena and the Max-Schmeling-Halle. The previous record stood at 145,519 and was set in Australia in 2022.
“The event, with its packed halls and the enthusiasm on display, reminded me very much of the women’s handball World Cup on home soil,” said Hanning. However, the managing director of men’s handball Bundesliga club Füchse Berlin also issued an appeal to those in charge of the sport.
“The key priority now must be for our leagues to develop in the same direction as the national teams. We need greater visibility and more professionalism, but also more investment,” said Hanning: “Football is showing us the way to some extent. There, the national team has long been a major talking point, and the league is really gaining momentum.” As with women’s handball, Hanning also believes in the potential of basketball. “The last ten days in Berlin have shown that.”