18 teams from the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein competed in the fifth season of the reformed Regionalliga Nord; 15 teams were retained from last season and 3 were promoted from the Oberliga, namely 2015–16 Niedersachsenliga champions Lupo Martini Wolfsburg[1] and promotion round winners SV Eichede, 2015–16 Schleswig-Holstein-Liga champions,[2] and 1.
[9] 18 teams from North Rhine-Westphalia competed in the fifth season of the reformed Regionalliga West; 14 teams were retained from the last season and 4 were promoted from the Oberliga.
[19] As the Westphalian Football and Athletics Association is one of three regional associations with the most participating teams in their league competitions, they were allowed to enter a second team for the 2017–18 DFB-Pokal (in addition to the Westphalian Cup winners).
A play-off took place between the best-placed eligible (non-reserve) Westphalian team of the Regionalliga West, SG Wattenscheid, and the best-placed eligible team of the Oberliga Westfalen, TuS Erndtebrück, with the winners qualifying for the DFB-Pokal.
19 teams from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland competed in the fourth season of the Regionalliga Südwest; 13 teams were retained from last season and 4 were promoted from the Oberliga.
[24][25][26] The runners-up of the other Oberligas had a playoff round which was won by FC Nöttingen.
[33][34] SpVgg Bayern Hof and TSV 1860 Rosenheim were also promoted as they beat SV Viktoria Aschaffenburg in the 2015–16 Bayernliga promotion playoff.