The Hildesheim Invaders filled the vacant spot in the northern division while the Frankfurt Universe replaced the Franken Knights in the south.
[3][2] For Hildesheim it marked a return to the league after 25 years, having spent two seasons in the Bundesliga in 1990 and 1991 while Frankfurt won promotion to the GFL for the first time.
In a hard fought match with errors on both sides, Schwäbisch Hall, led by Quarterback Marco Ehrenfried ultimately prevailed 26–21.
This was also the last GFL game receiver Patrick Donahue played for Schwäbisch Hall before being invited to rookie minicamp by the Green Bay Packers.
The Dresden Monarchs, which had been a perpetual playoff contender in previous years but lost many players after the 2015 season drew their first away game against the Berlin Rebels 21–21.
The German teams that had qualified for European competitions (BIG 6 and EFL Bowl) meanwhile fared a lot worse than in previous years.
The only German teams showing anything approaching the previous dominance were the New Yorker Lions, that won on the road against the Vienna Vikings (14–21) and at home against the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes (53–0) thus qualifying for Eurobowl XXX and the newly promoted Frankfurt Universe that won their first ever official European match on the road against the Thonon Black Panthers (0–48).
Stuttgart lost at home to Frankfurt (43–49) in an offensive slugfest with defensive errors on both sides giving Universe their first ever GFL win.
After their convincing home win against Kiel, the Dresden Monarchs had to go on the road to top rival Braunschweig and despite bringing them closer to defeat than any other team in that season thus far, they ultimately lost 33–26, despite leading by a point at the half.
Hall beat the Mercenaries on the road (49–20) thus staying the only team in the south to have a perfect winning percentage in league games.