For the 2024/2025 season, OLYMP Bezner KG in Bietigheim-Bissingen (Ludwigsburg district, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) and HB Bietigheim/Ludwigsburg e. V. (HBL) are continuing their literally masterful cooperation. Thereby, the German market leader for men’s shirts and the German champion in women’s handball are aiming for further titles at a national and international level.

The reigning five-time German champions and five-time German Super Cup winners, three-time German Cup winners and 2022 European Cup champions HB Ludwigsburg – under which the professional division of the former SG BBM Bietigheim Frauen has been operating since its relocation from Bietigheim-Bissingen to Ludwigsburg in the summer of 2024 – has long since arrived at the pinnacle of the sport of handball. By becoming the first German team ever to reach the 2024 Champions League final four, the team – led by head coach Jakob Vestergaard – has achieved a unique and historic feat, securing at the same time the title of the second-best women’s handball team in Europe by winning the silver medal.

Eberhard Bezner, co-owner of OLYMP Bezner KG and a longstanding and passionate primary sponsor of women’s handball in his home town of Bietigheim-Bissingen, said: “When we proclaimed the bold yet distant goal of striving for national as well as international titles in women’s handball in 2015, no one could have guessed the steep road to success we would end up taking together. And our ambitions remain high. This applies to both the German Women’s Handball League and the European Champions League. I’m delighted to be able to continue supporting this outstanding women’s handball team in its endeavours”.

Christian Köhle, Chairman of the Board of HB Bietigheim/Ludwigsburg e. V., added: “It’s an enrichment for any city to be home to such a high-calibre top team. As an international flagship for German women’s handball, the HBL professional team will make the city of Ludwigsburg better known far beyond the country’s borders. In this respect, we consider ourselves lucky to be home to such a strong team and to have equally strong partners at our side with the Bezner family and the OLYMP brand.

Our professional women’s handball team, which has been supported by OLYMP as its main sponsor for many years now, has already written handball history several times in its still young club history. These include winning the first international trophy in the European Handball Federation (EHF) in 2022, five German championships in the Women’s Handball Bundesliga (HBF) in 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024, three German Cup victories (HBF) in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and five German Supercup wins in 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 (HBF).

The fashion brand OLYMP, which specialises in men´s shirts, knitwear and accessories, and the current HB Bietigheim/Ludwigsburg e. V. have maintained an active, ongoing sporting partnership since 2005. The commitment of OLYMP, a family-owned company with a passion for handball, ranges from the promotionally effective placement of the OLYMP brand logo on jerseys to hall advertising, adverts in local and regional sports/club publications and support for extensive PR work. Furthermore, all players and officials are outfitted in high-quality OLYMP clothing products as international brand ambassadors for the company.