The regular season started on 20 May and ended on 10 September 2023, followed by the play-offs.[1] In the GFL Bowl, which was held on 14 October 2023 in Essen, the Potsdam Royals won their first national title.
Location of teams in the German Football League 2023
The league is divided in two conferences, north and south, and both conferences are divided in two divisions. During the regular season each club plays all other clubs in its division twice, home and away, and the teams of the other division of its conference once. In addition, each team plays one home and one away game against a team of the other conference, resulting in each team playing 12 regular season games.[2][1]
In case of a tie in standings, the head-to-head record is taken as the first tiebreaker after winning percentage.
The best four teams in each conference qualify for the play-offs where, in the quarter finals, teams from opposite conferences play each other, whereby the better placed teams have home field advantage. The first placed team plays the fourth placed from the other conference and the second placed the third placed team. From the semi-finals onwards teams from the same conference can meet again.[1]
The eighth placed team in the southern conference enters a two-leg play-off with the winner of the respective conference of the German Football League 2, the second tier of the league system in Germany. The winner of this contest qualifies for the GFL for the following season.[1] Had there been eight teams in the northern conference, a similar promotion/relegation round would have been played in the North.
In the Northern Division there was no relegation game since there were only seven teams in the league. In the Southern Division the Ravensburg Razorbacks withdrew from playing the relegation game against Kirchdorf Wildcats. Later the Ingolstadt Dukes withdrew their team from the GFL, hence the Razorbacks remained in the GFL and the Wildcats got promoted.
