Bundesliga (handball)

Bundesliga

Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 Handball-Bundesliga
Official logo of the Handball-Bundesliga
Countries	Germany
Confederation	EHF
Founded	1965
Number of teams	19
Relegation to	2. Handball-Bundesliga
Level on pyramid	Level 1
International cup(s)	Champions League EHF Cup
Current champions	Rhein-Neckar Löwen (2015–16)
Most championships	THW Kiel (20 titles)
Website	Website

The Handball- (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. The league has been sponsored by Toyota since 2007 and therefore the league was called the Toyota Handball-Bundesliga. Since 2012 it is sponsorsed by the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) and therefore the name has changed into DKB Handball-Bundesliga. The winners of the Handball-Bundesliga are recognised as the German handball champions. The HBL headquarters are based in Dortmund.

The Bundesliga was installed with the 1966/67 season and initially operated with two regional sections, North and South. Since 1977 the Bundesliga has operated with a single section first division, currently composed of eighteen clubs. In 1981 a 2.Bundesliga was installed as a new second division, supplanting the Regionalliga which became the third tier. The 2.Bundesliga used to consist of two (resp. three in the first two years after the German reunification) sections north and south for thirty years. Starting with the 2011/12 season the 2.Bundesliga is run in a single section consisting of twenty teams.

The season has 34 game days (or weeks) and is played as a Round-robin tournament without playoffs or a final. The season starts in August or September and ends in May. The first, second and third placed teams play in the EHF Champions League the following season. The fourth and gifth placed teams play in the EHF Cup. The seedings are subject of change, in case a German team wins the Champions League, the EHF Cup or the EHF Cup Winner's Cup because each winner of those tournaments is granted an automatic start in next years tournament without taking one of the leagues spots. It also can change if the DHB-Pokal Champion has one of the league spots for the Champions League or the EHF Cup.

Until 2011 the two last placed teams would relegate to the 2. Handball-Bundesliga for the next season, either in its northern or the southern section. The sixteenth placed team used to play in a home and home expulsion against the winner of the expulsion between the two second placed teams of the northern and the southern section of the 2. Bundesliga. The champions of the second division sections received a spot for the Bundesliga automatically.

Starting with the 2011/12 season, the bottom three teams of the Bundesliga will directly be relegated to the 2. Bundesliga, while the top three teams of the 2. Bundesliga will be directly promoted to the Bundesliga.