| Competition: | Serie B |
| Winners: | SPAL (2nd title) |
| Promoted: | SPAL Hellas Verona Benevento (by play-off) |
| Relegated: | Trapani Vicenza Pisa Latina (bankruptcy) |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1021 |
| League Topscorer: | Giampaolo Pazzini (23 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Virtus Entella 4–0 Brescia (29 October 2016) Cittadella 5–1 Hellas Verona (18 November 2016) Benevento 4–0 Brescia (19 November 2016) SPAL 4–0 Ternana (24 December 2016) Trapani 4–0 Bari (18 March 2017) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Avellino 0–5 Perugia (4 March 2017) |
| Highest Scoring: | Ternana 4–3 Novara (29 October 2016) Benevento 3–4 Bari (24 February 2017) |
| Longest Wins: | 5 games Cittadella SPAL |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 12 games Pro Vercelli SPAL |
| Longest Winless: | 15 games Pisa |
| Longest Losses: | 6 games Ternana |
| Highest Attendance: | 22,671 Bari 2–0 Brescia (27 February 2017) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,566 Virtus Entella 4–1 Cittadella (18 May 2017) |
| Attendance: | 3,192,945 |
| Average Attendance: | 6,911 |
| Prevseason: | 2015–16 |
| Nextseason: | 2017–18 |
| Season: | 2016–17 |
The 2016–17 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams were contesting the league: 15 returning from the 2015–16 season, 4 promoted from Lega Pro, and 3 relegated from Serie A.
| Team | President | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor (front) | Shirt sponsor (back) | Shorts sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascoli |  Francesco Bellini |  Alfredo Aglietti | Nike | Fainplast/CIAM, AMIK | Brosway | Conad | |
| Avellino | Walter Taccone | Walter Novellino | Givova | Sienergia | Gruppo Taccone | Soft Technology | |
| Bari | Gianluca Paparesta | Stefano Colantuono | Umbro | Betaland/Betpoint, Balkan Express/Sly Service Security | None | None | |
| Benevento | Oreste Vigorito | Marco Baroni | Frankie Garage | IVPC, Liquore Strega | Rillo Costruzioni | None | |
| Brescia | Alessandro Triboldi | Luigi Cagni | Acerbis | UBI Banco di Brescia | None | None | |
| Carpi | Claudio Caliumi | Fabrizio Castori | Givova | Gaudì Jeans | None | None | |
| Cesena | Giorgio Lugaresi | Andrea Camplone | Lotto | PLT Puregreen | None | None | |
| Cittadella | Andrea Gabrielli | Roberto Venturato | Garman | OCSA/Gavinox, Gruppo Gabrielli | Metalservice | Veneta Nastri | |
| Frosinone | Maurizio Stirpe | Pasquale Marino | Legea | Banca Popolare del Frusinate, Gala | 7Sette | None | |
| Hellas Verona | Maurizio Setti | Fabio Pecchia | Nike | Metano Nord, Extreme Printing/SEC | Chancebet.it | Consorzio San Zeno | |
| Latina | Pasquale Maietta | Vincenzo Vivarini | Givova | Loggia, Innova | Villa Meravigliosa Ricevimenti | None | |
| Novara | Massimo De Salvo | Roberto Boscaglia | Joma | Banca Popolare di Novara, Comoli Ferrari | Cristina Rubinetterie | None | |
| Perugia | Massimiliano Santopadre | Cristian Bucchi | Frankie Garage | Officine Piccini, Fortinfissi | Tedesco Group | None | |
| Pisa | Giuseppe Corrado | Gennaro Gattuso | Kappa | Toscana Aeroporti | Casa di Cura Privata San Rossore | None | |
| Pro Vercelli | Massimo Secondo | Moreno Longo | Erreà | Meeting Art | None | None | |
| Salernitana | Marco Mezzaroma | Alberto Bollini | Givova | Caffè Motta, eté Supermercati | SunTrades | IASA | |
| SPAL | Walter Mattioli | Leonardo Semplici | HS Football | Vetroresina/958 Santero, Magnadyne | ErreEffe Group | Ceramica Sant'Agostino | |
| Spezia | Matteo Volpi | Domenico Di Carlo | Acerbis | Arquati, Carispezia | 958 Santero | None | |
| Ternana | Simone Longarini | Fabio Liverani | Macron | None | None | None | |
| Trapani | Vittorio Morace | Alessandro Calori | Joma | Ustica Lines/Liberty Lines | None | None | |
| Vicenza | Alfredo Pastorelli | Vincenzo Torrente | Macron | Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Nordor Batterie | Faizane | GSC Group | |
| Virtus Entella | Antonio Gozzi | Gianpaolo Castorina | Acerbis | Creditis, Arinox | Due Energie | None |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascoli | Devis Mangia | Sacked | 10 May 2016 | Pre-season | Alfredo Aglietti | 16 June 2016 | |
| Frosinone | Roberto Stellone | Sacked | 15 May 2016[1] | Pasquale Marino | 6 June 2016[2] | ||
| Hellas Verona | Luigi Delneri | Sacked | 23 May 2016[3] | Fabio Pecchia | 1 June 2016 | ||
| Perugia | Pierpaolo Bisoli | Sacked | 24 May 2016 | Cristian Bucchi | 15 June 2016 | ||
| Virtus Entella | Alfredo Aglietti | Resigned | 26 May 2016 | Roberto Breda | 1 July 2016 | ||
| Avellino | Attilio Tesser | Signed by Cremonese | 31 May 2016 | Domenico Toscano | 4 June 2016 | ||
| Latina | Carmine Gautieri | Sacked | 12 June 2016 | Vincenzo Vivarini | 13 June 2016 | ||
| Benevento | Gaetano Auteri | Sacked | 14 June 2016 | Marco Baroni | 1 July 2016 | ||
| Novara | Marco Baroni | Signed by Benevento | 30 June 2016 | Roberto Boscaglia | 1 July 2016 | ||
| Pro Vercelli | Claudio Foscarini | Signed by Livorno | 30 June 2016 | Moreno Longo | 1 July 2016 | ||
| Ternana | Roberto Breda | Signed by Virtus Entella | 30 June 2016 | Christian Panucci | 1 July 2016 | ||
| Bari | Andrea Camplone | Contract expired | 30 June 2016 | Roberto Stellone | 4 July 2016 | ||
| Brescia | Roberto Boscaglia | Signed by Novara | 30 June 2016 | Cristian Brocchi | 11 July 2016 | ||
| Ternana | Christian Panucci | Sacked | 14 August 2016[4] | Benito Carbone | 14 August 2016 | ||
| Vicenza | Franco Lerda | Sacked | 2 October 2016 | 21st | Pierpaolo Bisoli | 3 October 2016[5] | |
| Cesena | Massimo Drago | Sacked | 30 October 2016 | 19th | Andrea Camplone | 31 October 2016[6] | |
| Bari | Roberto Stellone | Sacked | 7 November 2016 | 16th | Stefano Colantuono | 7 November 2016 | |
| Avellino | Domenico Toscano | Sacked | 29 November 2016 | 19th | Walter Novellino | 29 November 2016 | |
| Salernitana | Giuseppe Sannino | Resigned | 29 November 2016 | 14th | Alberto Bollini | 30 November 2016 | |
| Trapani | Serse Cosmi | Sacked | 30 November 2016 | 22nd | Alessandro Calori | 4 December 2016 | |
| Ternana | Benito Carbone | Resigned | 21 January 2017[7] | 21st | Carmine Gautieri | 22 January 2017[8] | |
| Ternana | Carmine Gautieri | Resigned | 5 March 2017 | 22nd | Fabio Liverani | 6 March 2017[9] | |
| Brescia | Cristian Brocchi | Sacked | 12 March 2017 | 19th | Luigi Cagni | 12 March 2017[10] | |
| Vicenza | Pierpaolo Bisoli | Sacked | 18 April 2017[11] | 19th | Vincenzo Torrente | 19 April 2017[12] | |
| Virtus Entella | Roberto Breda | Sacked | 30 April 2017 | 10th | Gianpaolo Castorina | 30 April 2017[13] |
According to the regulations, third-placed Frosinone would have avoided the play-offs if they had ended the regular season 10 points clear of fourth place. However, in the last round, Perugia and Benevento won their matches to leave the gap at nine points.[14]
Six teams contested the promotion playoffs. A preliminary one-legged round, played at the home venue of the higher placed team, involved the teams from 5th to 8th place. The two winning teams played against the 3rd and 4th-placed teams in two-legged semi-finals. The higher placed team played the second leg of the promotion playoff at home.