Handball Bundesliga (HBL) club Rhein-Neckar Löwen "will again reduce its payroll ahead of next season," according to the SID. Löwen GM Thorsten Storm said, "We have to continue to cut costs and are already working on reducing the payroll. Our payroll has notably decreased due to contract extensions. Everybody had to give." While the club was able to increase its revenue, it "still has to deal with old charges following the withdrawal of former main investor Jesper Nielsen." Storm said that the club "will have to take a new path" in terms of transfer politics. He said, "A transfer politic à la THW Kiel is not part of our economic roadmap. The foundation of the team and the starting seven have been set, now we have to be smart, support talents and turn them into Bundesliga players. This will be high up on our agenda over the next several years. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to keep our starting seven." Storm added that "overall it currently is a diffcult time for handball." Storm: "The whole sport is ailing. There are way to many negative headlines." Only a better cooperation between league and German Handball Federation (DHB) "could pave the way out of the crisis" (SID, 11/15).
