The 2015–16 Regionalliga will be the eighth season of the Regionalliga, the fourth under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system. The champions of Regionalliga Nord – SV Werder Bremen II, the champions of the Regionalliga Nordost – 1. FC Magdeburg, and the champions of Regionalliga Bayern – Würzburger Kickers were promoted to the 3. Liga. Borussia Dortmund II, SpVgg Unterhaching and SSV Jahn Regensburg were relegated from 3. Liga.
Regionalliga Nord
18 teams from the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein will compete in the third season of the reformed Regionalliga Nord. 15 teams were retained from the last season and 3 teams were promoted from the Oberliga – Niedersachsenliga champions SV Drochtersen/Assel and the two Regionalliga North promotion playoff winners VfV 06 Hildesheim, Niedersachsenliga runners-up, and TSV Schilksee, Schleswig-Holstein-Liga champions.
Regionalliga Nordost
18 teams from the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia will compete in the third season of the reformed Regionalliga Nordost. 13 teams were retained from the last season and 5 teams that were promoted from the Oberliga. The league expanded to 18 teams fom 16 as no other team was relegated to Oberliga because of Union Berlin II's withdrawal and insolvency-stricken VFC Plauen's administrative relegation. FSV Optik Rathenow qualified by winning the NOFV-Oberliga Nord along with runners-up FC Schönberg 95, while RB Leipzig II also qualified by winning NOFV-Oberliga Süd along with runners-up FC Oberlausitz Neugersdorf. FSV 63 Luckenwalde of the northern division won the promotion playoff between the third placers of the two NOFV-Oberliga divisions.
The five Regionalligas are the third-tier leagues in German women's football. In each division the champion will be promoted to the 2. Bundesliga in the next season.
Mode
In all divisions a season consists of two rounds. A club meets every other club one time in each round, once at home and once away. The number of games thus depends on the number of teams in the division, ranging from ten in the south to fourteen in the west. The season typically starts in August or September, with the first round finishing in December. The second round then starts in February and ends in May or June. Occasionally the first games of the second round are held in December, though.
The final standings are determined by points a club has gained during a season. A win is worth 3 points, a draw 1, and a loss 0. The tiebreakers are in descending order goal difference, goals for, and head-to-head results. If the tie cannot be broken a tiebreaking game is held.
At the end of the season the divisional champions are promoted the 2nd Bundesliga. There is no rule to which division of the 2nd Bundesliga a team is allocated and the German Football Association decides that from season to season. The number of teams relegated to the fourth tier depends on the clubs relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga. In a season no club might be relegated to a specific division of the Regionalliga while another division receives three new teams due to relegation. Promotion and relegation between the Regionalliga and the league beneath serves as a cushion to keep the divisions of the Regionalliga at the size they are supposed to have.
The Regionalliga is the fourth level of ice hockey in Germany. It was founded in 1961 as the Gruppenliga, and was renamed the Regionalliga for the 1965-66 season. From 1961-1973, it operated as the third level of German ice hockey, before being dropped to the fourth level for the 1974-75 season. For 2013-14, there were five regions of the league, the Regionalliga West, Regionalliga Nord, Regionalliga Ost, Regionalliga Südwest, and the Bayernliga.
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Regionalliga (plural: Regionalligen, translation: Regional Leagues) is a designation in Germany for sports leagues, which are led by one or more regional federations. Regionalligen often fall below the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga of a given sport. The exception is the men's football regional league, which has been led in Germany by the DFB since 1992.
American football
Germany
In American Football in Germany, the Regionalligen are the third division after the GFL and the GFL 2. In the 2015 season, the regional leagues north, east, west, center and south exist.
Basketball
Germany
The Regionalligen in German Basketball are not subdivided only regionally, it exist also 1st and/or 2nd Regionalligen, between which promotion and relegation are possible.
Ice hockey
Germany
The Regionalligen in ice hockey are, after the DEL, 2nd Bundesliga, and the Oberligen, the fourth division. In the 2004/05 season there were 4 Regionalligen: the Northern Regionalliga, the Eastern Regionalliga, the Regionalligen NRW (North Rhine/ Westphalia), and Hessen.