Teams from the DEL participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy.

[1] Fourteen different teams comprise the league, playing their home games in a diverse mix of venues, including a few large, modern arenas (e.g. in Berlin, Mannheim, Cologne, and Düsseldorf) and older, smaller venues (e.g. in Iserlohn, Schwenningen and Straubing).

Despite attracting some of the biggest crowds in the DEL, and hosting NHL teams in preseason games, Kölner Haie have not won a championship since 2002.

In the DEL Winter Game, similar to the NHL Winter Classic where matches are played in larger outdoor venues, Cologne and Düsseldorf have played in front of crowds in excess of 40,000, notably in 2019 as Düsseldorf won in overtime in rival Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion.

Following a 2021 postponement due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the DEL Winter Game returned in December 2022 with Cologne hosting Mannheim in the RheinEnergieStadion.

The DEL is known for its game-day atmosphere, as well as producing NHL talents including Dominik Kahun, Tim Stutzle and Lukas Reichel.

Ice hockey is growing as a sport in Germany and is seen as a popular alternative to football or handball, building upon the Olympic success in 2018.

A new system of promotion and relegation with the DEL2 began with the 2021–22 season, in which the last-placed DEL club will be replaced by the DEL2 champions.

Following the conclusion of the 2021–22 season, Bietigheim retained their place in the top flight while Krefeld Pinguine were relegated after finishing bottom of the table.

Berlin also won the title in 2021, defeating Wolfsburg 2-1 in a best-of-3 series following a North/South regional league split during the 2020/21 season due to the pandemic.

Mannheim have enjoyed a lot of success in recent years (2015 and 2019 Champions, 2021 Regular Season Champions) although EHC Red Bull München won three consecutive titles between 2016 and 2018 and also made the 2019 final, losing to Mannheim in five games.

ERC Ingolstadt (2014 Champions as the 9th seed) and Grizzlys Wolfsburg (2021 runners-up) have also enjoyed deep playoff runs in the last decade.

The Eishockey-Bundesliga was formed in 1957 as the elite hockey competition in the Federal Republic of Germany, replacing the Oberliga in this position.

Upon founding, the "DEL Betriebsgesellschaft mbH" was the first German professional sports league managed by an organization whose members were incorporated as well.

During DEL's initial season, on 18 December 1994, the Bundesliga's final champion, the renamed EC Hedos München, folded.

The Bosman ruling, a 1995 decision of the European Court of Justice regarding the movement of labor in soccer, had profound influence on the league.

However, frequent player moves were not viewed positively by the fans, resulting in smaller attendance numbers.

26 NHL players came to play the season in the DEL, including Jamie Langenbrunner, Erik Cole, Stéphane Robidas, Doug Weight, Mike York and several German national team players – Jochen Hecht, Olaf Kölzig, and Marco Sturm.

The ESBG guarantees to admit any DEL team wishing to step down to the lower 2nd Bundesliga or Oberliga.