The rights package awarded to S Nation Media includes all 306 LIQUI MOLY HBL season matches, all 306 2. HBL matches, all rounds of the DHB Cup competition including the REWE Final4 tournament for the DHB Cup, as well as the Pixum Super Cup, which opens the HBL season. S Nation Media will show all matches of these HBL competitions live on the new sports streaming platform in the highest standards.

Frank Bohmann, HBL Managing Director: "With the award of our media rights to S Nation Media, we are substantially developing our media presence and also our business models. Apart from the important live presence, building additional reach on our own digital channels is crucial. The agreement with S Nation Media guarantees us access to many more match scenes and to other high-quality produced content. This will increase our media presence and give us much more visibility and more reach. This is a great opportunity for more exposure and great growth potential for our sponsorship."

Christian Seifert, Founder and Managing Partner of S Nation Media: "I am very pleased about the signing of the media contract with the HBL. We are proud to produce and present over 750 matches of this great sport to the fans every year starting with the 2023/2024 season. Handball is a very popular sport in Germany, the HBL is the strongest league in the world and there are outstanding international tournaments coming up in Germany in the next few years. These are the best prerequisites for raising the sport of handball as a whole to a new level of perception and appreciation, with fans as well as sponsors and media, together with the league, its committees, all clubs of the 1st and 2nd Handball Bundesliga and our other media partners."       

Uwe Schwenker, HBL Chairman: "We have developed very well in the media in recent years. Now it is our task to reach a new level. We are convinced that by working with Christian Seifert and his team, but also with Mathias Döpfner and Axel Springer SE, we will take a significant step forward. For me, the awarding of the media rights to S Nation Media is also an important contribution to a successful decade of handball in which Germany hosts a Euro 2024, a World Cup 2025 and a World Cup 2027. All in all, German handball has a unique opportunity to position itself with a strong reach, innovatively and successfully in terms of sport and business."  

Greater awareness through media campaigns: Another component of the new media partnership is an extensive advertising commitment, with which the LIQUI MOLY HBL and 2nd HBL will be showcased in advertising campaigns with a high reach throughout Germany.    

Innovative content desk for significantly more reach between match days: S Nation Media and HBL GmbH will make more handball content freely available. The common goal is to better inform viewers and to inspire new target groups for handball. That is why, in addition to comprehensive live coverage on the new sports streaming platform, the partners are focusing on 24/7 360-degree coverage between match days. This will be made possible by a cloud-based "content desk" through which the clubs of both Bundesligen and the HBL will have access to current and historical moving images, e.g. near-live match highlights and behind-the-scenes formats, for the purpose of free distribution and marketing on their own digital platforms. Media partners previously authorised by S Nation Media will also have access to a wide range of moving images.        

Additional reach through BILD TV: The channel, which belongs to the Axel Springer publishing house, will show at least one LIQUI MOLY HBL match per match day on free-to-air television.  

In addition, one match per matchday of the 2nd HBL will be shown free-to-air. The platform for this has not yet been determined. In addition to the LIQUI MOLY HBL, the 2nd HBL will also be produced with more cameras from the 2023/24 season, and the 2nd HBL will also start the 2023/24 season with, among other things, a uniform playing surface and more LED perimeter boards.

S Nation Media is also planning to grant a sub-licence to ARD and ZDF for selected live matches and summary coverage.

Move your Sports-bonus - S Nation Media significantly supports young handball players together with the fans: Not only professional handball but also young handball players will benefit significantly from the award of media rights to S Nation GmbH. S Nation will provide the HBL with a fixed percentage of the subscription fees - the so-called "Move your Sport premium" - which will be earmarked by the HBL and its clubs and invested in the promotion of young talent.

With the forward-looking award of the German-language audiovisual media rights to S Nation Media from the 2023/24 season for at least six seasons, German professional handball has achieved an unprecedentedly positive negotiation result despite the economically challenging conditions caused by the Corona pandemic. By further expanding its culture of innovation with the award of media rights from the 2023 season, HBL GmbH is setting a decisive course for its media presence in pay and free TV as well as on all relevant digital platforms. By cooperating with S Nation Media, HBL GmbH is responding to changing consumer behaviour among fans and sponsors and creating significantly more reach potential as well as new opportunities for new digital business models.