It started on July 29, 2016 with the opening game between KV Mechelen and the reigning champions FC Bruges , while the last matchday of the regular season was played on March 11 and 12, 2017. On March 13, 2017, the timing of the subsequent play-offs was announced.
The 16 clubs initially played the regular season in a double round. The final table served as the basis for qualifying for various placement rounds.
The six best-placed clubs reached the championship round (play-offs 1), the teams in positions seven to fifteen played for a possible international starting place (play-offs 2). After the end of the 30 game days, the bottom of the table was relegated directly.
It should be noted that in the championship round half of the number of points achieved from the 30 games of the preliminary round is carried over, so that the further matches can only cause minor changes depending on the table situation.
With the introduction of the new Division 1B for the 2016/17 season, a professional second-highest division comprising eight clubs, the mode of play-offs 2 changed compared to the previous season. The nine teams placed on the table ranks 7 to 15 played the play-off 2 together with the three best clubs (with the exception of the promoted to division 1A) from division 1B. The total of twelve teams were divided into two groups of six clubs each (called play-off 2A and play-off 2B), each of which played against each other once. The winners of these two groups played the winner of Play-off 2 in one game, who competed in a further play-off against the fourth or fifth place in Play-off 1 for an international starting place.
1When the score was 1: 3, there were crowd riots in which both fan camps were involved. The match was initially rated with 0 points and 0-0 goals for both teams. Standard Liège then appealed. The result of 1: 3 was confirmed by the Belgian court of arbitration, but no points were awarded.
