Organisation

Handball-Bundesliga GmbH is responsible for the organisation, licensing and marketing of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. It organises the fixtures and handles the organisational side of player transfers. In addition to the 612 matches of the season, it is responsible for all cup fixtures as well as the organisation of the Lidl Final4 and the Handball Super Cup.

Organisational structure

Handball-Bundesliga e.V.

The Handball-Bundesliga e.V. for men is the association of the licensed clubs and/or their commercial sponsors of the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga. It has existed since 20 June 2003 as a result of the decision to restructure HBVM e.V. into Handball-Bundesliga e.V.
The HBL e.V. is headed by an eight-member Executive Committee, which is elected for three years by the General Assembly. It consists of a president, a vice-president of finance, two vice-presidents, two assessors of the 1st league and two assessors of the 2nd league. The Managing Director of Handball-Bundesliga GmbH is a member of the Executive Committee in an advisory capacity without voting rights.
A basic agreement regulates the competences and areas of responsibility between the HBL and DHB. Despite the independence of the league association, the umbrella organisation remains an important and close partner.
The fulfilment and implementation of its tasks are governed by the league association's statutes. The operational business is managed by Handball-Bundesliga GmbH.

Handball-Bundesliga GmbH

As part of a licensing procedure, the HBL uses primarily economic criteria to check the requirements of the clubs that are qualified to participate in match operations. The assessment procedure is carried out for each season by the Licensing Commission. It is made up of independent legal and financial experts as well as the managing director of HBL GmbH.
HBL GmbH is responsible for the centralised marketing of the naming rights and media rights in Germany and abroad. Following long-standing naming partnerships with the companies Toyota, DKB and LIQUI MOLY, DAIKIN has acquired the naming rights to the 1st Handball Bundesliga from the 2024/2025 season.
The new media partnership concluded by DYN and ARD/ZDF for the 2022/23 season will give the DAIKIN HBL an unprecedented media presence in German-speaking countries.

History & Organisation

Foundation & Organisation

At a meeting on 1 June 1994, twelve club representatives founded the Handball-Bundesliga-Vereinigung der Männer HBVM e.V. (Men's Handball Bundesliga Association). The task and purpose of the foundation was to promote the sport of handball, particularly in the Bundesliga, and to represent the interests and involvement of the Bundesliga clubs towards the DHB.
As part of a new basic agreement between the DHB and the league association, HBVM e.V. was restructured as Handball-Bundesliga e.V. on 28 June 2003. This still exists today.
HBL Handball-Bundesliga GmbH was founded on 21 July 2004 to manage the operational business and has been responsible for the organisation and implementation of match operations on behalf of HBL e.V. ever since.
 

Presidents HBVM e.V. / HBL e.V.

  • 1994 - 2004: Heinz Jacobsen
  • 2004 - 2007: Bernd-Uwe Hildebrandt
  • 2007 - 2014: Reiner Witte
  • Since 2014: Uwe Schwenker
 

League Offices

  • 1995 – 2003: Kaiserstraße 35, Kiel
  • 2003 – 2012: Strobelalle 56, Dortmund
  • 2012 – 2016: Phonixseestr. 4, Dortmund
  • 2016 – heute: Edmund-Rumpler-Str. 4, Köln

Central marketing/partnerships

Naming rights:

  • 2007/08 – 2011/12: TOYOTA Handball-Bundesliga
  • 2012/13 – 2018/19: DKB Handball-Bundesliga
  • 2019/20 – 2023/24: LIQUI MOLY HBL
  • since 2024/25: DAIKIN HBL

TV partner:

  • 1993/94 – 2016/17: Changing rights holders (VOX, DSF, Sport1, SportA, Sportfive)
  • 2017/18 – 2022/23: Sky und SportA
  • 2018/19 – 2022/23: Sublicence from Sky to Sportdeutschland.TV for the 2. HBL
  • since 2023/24: Dyn

Collection of real-time geodata

From the 2019/20 season onwards, the service provider KINEXON will collect the geodata of all players and selected ball data in all DAIKIN HBL first division matches for the first time and make this available to the various stakeholders. Further information on data collection can be found here.