The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West.
The 1972–73 season saw two new clubs in the league, BFC Preussen and Rot-Weiß Neukölln, both promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.
Former Bundesliga club Tasmania 1900 Berlin became insolvent at the end of the 1972–73 season and folded.
FC Mülheim and Sportfreunde Siegen, both promoted from the Verbandsliga, while Arminia Bielefeld, as part of the Bundesliga scandal, and Borussia Dortmund had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.
The 1972–73 season saw three new clubs in the league, SV Waldhof Mannheim, VfR Oli Bürstadt and FC Wacker München, all three promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.