# 2023 German Football League

The 2023 German Football League season is the 44th edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany.
The regular season started on 20 May and ended on 10 September 2023, followed by the play-offs. In the GFL Bowl, which was held on 14 October 2023 in Essen, the Potsdam Royals won their first national title.

## Modus

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.
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.
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. Had there been eight teams in the northern conference, a similar promotion/relegation round would have been played in the North.

## League tables
### GFL

The league tables of the two GFL divisions:

#### GFL North

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Potsdam Royals | 12 | 11 | 1 | 599 | 236 | +363 | .917 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 2 | Dresden Monarchs | 12 | 10 | 2 | 488 | 280 | +208 | .833 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 3 | New Yorker Lions | 12 | 10 | 2 | 356 | 175 | +181 | .833 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 4 | Berlin Rebels | 12 | 6 | 6 | 291 | 276 | +15 | .500 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 5 | Berlin Adler | 12 | 5 | 7 | 286 | 341 | −55 | .417 | |
| 6 | Paderborn Dolphins | 12 | 3 | 9 | 184 | 432 | −248 | .250 | |
| 7 | Kiel Baltic Hurricanes | 12 | 1 | 11 | 259 | 446 | −187 | .083 | |
| 8 | Cologne Crocodiles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Withdrew before season |
* ↑ The Cologne Crocodiles announced their withdrawal in April.

#### GFL South

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 12 | 9 | 3 | 397 | 244 | +153 | .750 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 2 | Allgäu Comets | 12 | 9 | 3 | 389 | 284 | +105 | .750 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 3 | Saarland Hurricanes | 12 | 9 | 3 | 465 | 366 | +99 | .750 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 4 | Ingolstadt Dukes | 12 | 6 | 6 | 387 | 340 | +47 | .500 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 5 | Munich Cowboys | 12 | 3 | 9 | 169 | 359 | −190 | .250 | |
| 6 | Straubing Spiders | 12 | 3 | 9 | 204 | 397 | −193 | .250 | |
| 7 | Marburg Mercenaries | 12 | 3 | 9 | 251 | 383 | −132 | .250 | Withdrew after season |
| 8 | Ravensburg Razorbacks | 12 | 2 | 10 | 209 | 375 | −166 | .167 | Relegation play-offs to GFL2 |
* ↑ Withdrew the relegation play-off, however remained in the GFL after the withdrawal of the Mercenaries

### GFL2

The league tables of the two GFL2 divisions:

#### GFL2 North

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Hildesheim Invaders | 10 | 10 | 0 | 523 | 227 | +296 | 1.000 | Promotion to GFL |
| 2 | Düsseldorf Panther | 10 | 8 | 2 | 301 | 182 | +119 | .800 | |
| 3 | Rostock Griffins | 10 | 7 | 3 | 404 | 254 | +150 | .700 | |
| 4 | Langenfeld Longhorns | 10 | 4 | 6 | 212 | 230 | −18 | .400 | |
| 5 | Lübeck Cougars | 10 | 4 | 6 | 288 | 406 | −118 | .400 | |
| 6 | Oldenburg Knights | 10 | 3 | 7 | 165 | 303 | −138 | .300 | |
| 7 | Münster Blackhawks | 10 | 2 | 8 | 137 | 352 | −215 | .200 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Solingen Paladins | 10 | 2 | 8 | 218 | 294 | −76 | .200 | Relegation to Regionalliga |

#### GFL2 South

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kirchdorf Wildcats | 10 | 9 | 1 | 366 | 163 | +203 | .900 | Qualification to promotion play-off |
| 2 | Fursty Razorbacks | 10 | 8 | 2 | 268 | 164 | +104 | .800 | |
| 3 | Regensburg Phoenix | 10 | 7 | 3 | 336 | 198 | +138 | .700 | |
| 4 | Pforzheim Wilddogs | 10 | 5 | 5 | 191 | 169 | +22 | .500 | |
| 5 | Gießen Golden Dragons | 10 | 4 | 6 | 257 | 270 | −13 | .400 | |
| 6 | Frankfurt Universe | 10 | 4 | 6 | 227 | 313 | −86 | .400 | |
| 7 | Bad Homburg Sentinels | 10 | 2 | 8 | 103 | 235 | −132 | .200 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 8 | Stuttgart Scorpions | 10 | 1 | 9 | 95 | 331 | −236 | .100 | Relegation to Regionalliga |

## Postseason
### Relegation and Promotion round

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.

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | GFL Bowl | GFL Bowl | GFL Bowl |
| N1 | Potsdam Royals | 54 | | | | | | |
| S4 | Ingolstadt Dukes | 0 | | | | | | |
| S4 | Ingolstadt Dukes | 0 | N1 | Potsdam Royals | 41 | | | |
| | | | N3 | New Yorker Lions | 28 | | | |
| S2 | Allgäu Comets | 34 | N3 | New Yorker Lions | 28 | | | |
| N3 | New Yorker Lions | 36 | | | | | | |
| N3 | New Yorker Lions | 36 | | | | N1 | Potsdam Royals | 34 |
| | | | | | | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 7 |
| S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 17 | | | | | | | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 7 |
| N4 | Berlin Rebels | 7 | | | | | | |
| N4 | Berlin Rebels | 7 | S1 | Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns | 36 | | | |
| | | | N2 | Dresden Monarchs | 30 | | | |
| N2 | Dresden Monarchs | 45 | N2 | Dresden Monarchs | 30 | | | |
| S3 | Saarland Hurricanes | 38 | | | | | | |