Handball World Record Crowd Set in Germany: Where Does This Attendance Rank Compared to Other Popular Team Sports?

With a world record crowd of 53,586 watching, the German national team has been raving about beginning the 2024 European Men’s Handball Championship (Men’s EHF EURO 2024) on home soil.

The Fortuna Düsseldorf football stadium saw the largest turnout in handball history on Wednesday night (January 10), as the host team easily defeated Switzerland 27-14 in front of boisterous spectators, justifying the role of the favorite set by online bookies with the best no deposit bonuses for existing players.

In order to accomplish this, organizers had to modify the court used for the matches. To hold the greatest European competition currently in existence, a handball court was reconverted. A significant advancement for handball in Germany, a nation that currently values and reveres the sport highly.

Previous Record Improved by Nearly 10,000

The Düsseldorf arena was used for the first two games of the tournament, the other being France’s 39-29 win over North Macedonia, one of the reasons being boosting awareness and interest for the event. The championships continue in smaller arenas in Berlin, Mannheim, Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne which will also host the January 28 final.

The previous best was 44,189 people. It was at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt where Rhein-Neckar Löwen met HSV Hamburg for the game between the two Bundesliga giants. In the so-called “Tag des Handballs”, also in Germany, to be exact. That was September 6, 2014.

This has given us the idea to find world record attendance for other popular team sports. The numbers are impressive. We used Topend Sports’ rank of the 10 most popular sports where collective play matters as a starting point. Interestingly, handball, which triggered this little investigation of ours isn’t on the list…

Largest Attendance in 10 Most Popular Sports in World

Football (199,854)
Brazil vs. Uruguay, 1950 FIFA World Cup Final, Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Cricket (104,859)
Gujarat Titans vs. Rajasthan Royals, 2022 Indian Premier League Final, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India.

Basketball (68,323)
San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State Warriors, 2022–23 NBA, Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Baseball (115,301)
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Boston Red Sox, 2008 MLB preseason, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Rugby Union (109, 874)
Australia vs. New Zealand, 2000 Tri Nations Series, Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Field Hockey (65,156)
England vs. USA, 1978 women’s international match, Wembley Stadium, London, England, UK.

Volleyball (92,003)
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Omaha Mavericks, 2023 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament, Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.

Ice Hockey (105,491)
Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, 2014 NHL Winter Classic, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

American Football (130,045)
Tennessee Volunteers vs. Virginia Tech Hokies, 2016 Battle at Bristol, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee, USA.

Rugby League (107,558)
Melbourne Storm vs. St. George Illawarra Dragons, 1999 National Rugby League Grand Final, Stadium Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.