HBL GmbH

International Media Rights: HBL GmbH Expands Strategic Focus to India for the 2025/26 Season

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Photo: Klahn

The Handball-Bundesliga GmbH and OTT platform SSEN today announced a strategic partnership that will see top matches from the DAIKIN Handball-Bundesliga broadcast live in India with English commentary starting in the 2025/26 season. In addition to live coverage, the deal includes match summaries and highlight packages. SSEN has also secured comprehensive social media rights. The agreement between Handball-Bundesliga GmbH and SSEN will run for four years, through the end of the 2028/29 season.

Sports fans in India and 17 other countries across South and Southeast Asia will soon be able to watch matches from the DAIKIN Handball-Bundesliga.
Leading OTT platform SSEN, which also holds rights to India’s most popular sports such as hockey and cricket, will broadcast DAIKIN HBL matches in the Indian market.
In addition to live games, highlights will be available on digital and social media channels as well as on-demand platforms.
Currently, the DAIKIN HBL is available in over 80 countries through its own international media network.

Through this new partnership, the DAIKIN HBL will gain continuous visibility in the Indian market, which, with nearly 1.5 billion inhabitants, is the most populous in the world.

The strategic collaboration will also extend the league’s reach to additional audiences in South and Southeast Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

With this cooperation, HBL GmbH aims to work closely with its clubs to raise awareness of German handball on a global scale and to bring the excitement of professional handball to fans in India. By opening new markets and targeting new audiences, HBL GmbH strengthens the Handball-Bundesliga brand while also contributing positively to the growth of handball in India.

In addition to increasing commercial revenues, one of the primary objectives of HBL GmbH’s international media strategy is to engage new global audiences. HBL GmbH directly markets the international audiovisual media rights to matches from both the DAIKIN HBL and the 2nd Handball-Bundesliga across all platforms, along with associated licensing and sponsorship rights. Current licensing partners include some of the world’s leading media networks. The HBL GmbH portfolio currently reaches more than 80 countries worldwide.

Since the 2022/23 season, Handball-Bundesliga GmbH has also operated HBL TV, an internationally oriented streaming platform that allows handball fans around the world to follow matches from the DAIKIN HBL and the 2nd HBL.