Is there Bundesliga handball in Ludwigsburg in the coming season? A written statement of the association on Monday evening gives little hope.
For weeks, those responsible at HB Ludwigsburg searched for a solution to the acute financial problems. But all efforts to the German champion in women’s handball remained without the desired success. This emerges from a message that the club published on Monday evening. It says: “Despite intensive discussions with everyone involved, no sustainable solution could be found to ensure the financing of the coming season.”
The players’ vicinals are no longer binding
Two weeks ago, HB Ludwigsburg GmbH & Co. KG, under which the professional department of the best German team is operated, submitted an application to open insolvency proceedings at the responsible district court. It is now clear that the financing gap that has arisen over a longer period of time could not be closed. The consequence: The economic basis is missing in order to continue to bind the German champions and cup winners to their existing contracts.
“The decision was not easy for us, but it was essential after careful examination,” Dr. Holger Leichtle, preliminary insolvency administrator, cited in the letters of the association. “Under these conditions, the players are not reasonable to continue to be bound to their contracts. We have informed the team about the situation today.”
Xenia Smits: “Pereasure, stuck and empty”
Xenia Smits, Germany’s handball player of the year and top star in the HB Ludwigsburg team, said shortly after the press release was published by SWR Sport that she feels “at a loss, streamlined and very empty”. And added: “Not only me, but we all felt very comfortable here. We only got the information very late that it looks so bad. We were not aware of it. Accordingly, it hit us all the more.” The development with a view to the team, which is now facing a completely uncertain future, is particularly painful. “We are more than one family. All that hurts the most that what we have created and achieved here will no longer go on. We are just at a loss.”
Is a continuation of the Professional handballs still possible in Ludwigsburg?
Despite this explosive financial situation, the association still wants to check whether “a continuation of the project is possible in a smaller scale with reduced financial resources.” The players were informed about this. The goal is to “create a perspective for the location.”
In view of the financial emergency and the statements from the notification of the association, it is difficult to imagine that the hopes for a handball future will meet at the women’s Bundesliga club. The lifting of the contractual loyalty for the players is a clear sign. In addition, the bankruptcy proceedings continue. To what extent the training company is maintained in the financial emergency of the association – especially with a view to the contracts that are no longer binding – will show the coming days.
Tip: How could the financial crisis at HB Ludwigsburg come? A detailed article on the situation with the best German team in women’s handball can be found here:
Prize on Tue., 5.8.2025 6:00 a.m., SWR Currently in the morning, SWR Current
