The Long Tail and Team Handball

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This NPR interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5563401 highlights how the “Long Tail” is changing the way media business is conducted. The old premise that 20% percent of your content makes 80% of your sales is no longer valid as niche markets become more and more important. Of course, team handball is one of those niche markets that could never crack into the crowded TV schedule. As more channels become available and broadband continues to improve in terms of quality and availability it’s only a matter of time until the niche Handball market is finally served.

2 thoughts on “The Long Tail and Team Handball”

  1. I'm not really sure how to put this but I feel that there are people who to keep Handball a niche market. Why do I say this? Simply because of the way things have gone over the past year. With the loss of the national federation, we are left to fend for ourselves on a regional basis with limited support from the USOC. Of course some people will that this is actually [i]good[/i] for the sport because we are building it at a grassroots level. While I'll agree that any handball is good handball, the fact remains that as long as we don't have a national federation we are going to be stuck in neutral.

    As I have written previously, the need for visibility remains our highest priority. We need to find ways to bring our sport to the masses and it can be done by not only on the internet or on some obscure cable channel but on ESPN where you could have THW Kiel games broadcast through a partnership of said Club, a new USATH, and the German Handball League to not only develop a fanbase for Handball here but to help brings additional fans to them as well.

    As an alternative the US Men's Team could go back to playing in the German 3rd or 4th Division expect this time there would be a US Olympic Channel to televise these games at a time where people are home to watch. Plus a new MNT training center wouldn't hurt either.

    Now of course everyone reading this is asking "Where does the money come from". A very good question. Without straying to far out I'll say that I supported the idea of the independent directors who had to put up some money. Unfortunately, we let little issues like that tear us apart. But coming back to the present, or the future, the money would have to come from sponsors who would have to be persuaded to see that this a huge game overseas with some money could help make Handball not only known but hopefully a lot more popular than Indoor Volleyball.

    If you choose to keep Handball a niche sport it will stay one, but if you choose to make it a mainstream sport eventually it will become one.

    Considering the fact that Handball is the 2nd biggest sport in the world, let's start by showing them what Handball is all about.

    To close I want to tell you what happened back in Jan. at a NETHC Tournament outside Boston, MA. (and not to boast but I was the one who recommended the tournament site) After spending several hours watching someone asked "Are you still here?". Maybe I should have told him that from the first game on Sat. to the last game on Sun. was the best two days of my life and if they have the tournament there again next season, then I will have two more of the best days of my life.

    Thanks for reading my rant, now I'm going to watch the 2004 Olympic Men's Gold Medal match for the 10th time.

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