| Competition: | 1. divisjon |
| Season: | 2016 |
| Dates: | 3 April – 30 October |
| Winners: | Kristiansund |
| Promoted: | Kristiansund Sandefjord |
| Relegated: | Bryne Hødd KFUM Oslo Raufoss |
| Matches: | 300 |
| Total Goals: | 696 |
| League Topscorer: | Pontus Engblom (26 goals) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Fredrikstad 1–7 Ranheim |
| Longest Wins: | 10 games Sandefjord |
| Longest Winless: | 10 games Raufoss |
| Average Attendance: | 1,495 25.2% |
| Prevseason: | 2015 |
| Nextseason: | 2017 |
The 2016 1. divisjon (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football league season. The league was contested by 16 teams, and the top two teams were promoted to Tippeligaen, while the teams placed from third to sixth place played a promotion-playoff against the 14th-placed team in Tippeligaen to win promotion. The bottom four teams were relegated to the 2. divisjon.[1]
The first round of the season was played on 3 April 2016 and the season concluded with the last round on 30 October 2016. The playoff-tournament was played between 6 and 21 November 2016.[2]
In the 2015 1. divisjon, Sogndal, and Brann won promotion to Tippeligaen, while Follo, Nest-Sotra, Bærum and Hønefoss were relegated to the 2016 2. divisjon.
Mjøndalen,[3] and Sandefjord,[3] were relegated from the 2015 Tippeligaen, while KFUM Oslo, Raufoss, Ull/Kisa and Kongsvinger were promoted from the 2015 2. divisjon.
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryne | Bryne | Bryne Stadion | 10,000 |  Alf Ingve Berntsen |
| Fredrikstad | Fredrikstad | Fredrikstad Stadion | 12,565 | Jan Halvor Halvorsen |
| Hødd | Ulsteinvik | Høddvoll Stadion | 3,825 | Hans-Erik Eriksen |
| Jerv | Grimstad | J.J. Ugland Stadion – Levermyr | 1,750 | Arne Sandstø |
| KFUM | Oslo | KFUM Arena | 1,500 | Ståle Andersen |
| Kongsvinger | Kongsvinger | Gjemselund Stadion | 6,700 | Luis Berkemeier Pimenta |
| Kristiansund | Kristiansund | Kristiansund Stadion | 3,000 | Christian Michelsen |
| Levanger | Levanger | Moan Fritidspark | 6,000 |  Magnus Powell |
| Mjøndalen | Mjøndalen | Isachsen Stadion | 4,350 | Vegard Hansen |
| Ranheim | Trondheim | DNB Arena | 2,000 | Svein Maalen |
| Raufoss | Raufoss | Nammo Stadion | 2,500 | Espen Haug |
| Sandefjord | Sandefjord | Komplett.no Arena | 6,000 | Lars Bohinen |
| Sandnes Ulf | Sandnes | Sandnes Idrettspark | 4,969 | Bengt Sæternes |
| Strømmen | Strømmen | Strømmen Stadion | 1,800 | Espen Olsen |
| Ull/Kisa | Jessheim | UKI Arena | 3,000 | Vegard Skogheim |
| Åsane | Åsane | Åsane Idrettspark | 3,000 | Kjetil Knutsen |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | Table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fredrikstad | Arne Erlandsen | Contract expired | 11 November 2015[4] | Pre-season | Jan Halvor Halvorsen | 23 November 2015[5] | Pre-season |
| Ranheim | Ola By Rise | Contract expired | 30 November 2015[6] | Pre-season | Svein Maalen | 1 December 2015 | Pre-season |
| Ull/Kisa | Jonas Olsson | Contract expired | 3 December 2015[7] | Pre-season | Vegard Skogheim | 1 January 2016[8] | Pre-season |
| Jerv | Steinar Pedersen | Start's new coach | 23 December 2015[9] | Pre-season | Arne Sandstø | 15 January 2016[10] | Pre-season |
| Hødd | Sindre Eid | Resigned | 31 December 2015[11] | Pre-season | Hans-Erik Eriksen | 1 January 2016[12] | Pre-season |
| Levanger | Andreas Holmberg | Contract expired | 31 December 2015[13] | Pre-season | Magnus Powell | 1 January 2016 | Pre-season |
| Bryne | Gaute Larsen | Resigned | 14 May 2016[14] | 12th | Alf Ingve Berntsen | 14 May 2016 | 12th |
| Fredrikstad | Jan Halvor Halvorsen | Resigned | 09 Aug 2016[15] | 14th | Mons Ivar Mjelde | 09 Aug 2016[16] | 14th |
See main article: 2016 Eliteserien promotion/relegation play-offs. The third to sixth-placed teams took part in the promotion play-offs; these were single leg knockout matches, two semi-finals and a final. The winners, Jerv, advanced to play Stabæk over two legs in the Tippeligaen play-offs for a spot in the top-flight next season.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals | Games | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pontus Engblom | Sandnes Ulf | 26 | 30 | 0,87 |
| 2 |  Daouda Bamba | Kristiansund | 20 | 28 | 0,71 |
| 3 | Robert Stene | Ranheim | 18 | 30 | 0,60 |
| 4 | Geir André Herrem | Åsane | 14 | 22 | 0,64 |
| Adem Güven | Kongsvinger | 14 | 25 | 0,56 | |
| Kjell Rune Sellin | Sandefjord | 14 | 30 | 0,47 | |
| Benjamin Stokke | Levanger | 14 | 30 | 0,47 | |
| 8 | Kent Håvard Eriksen | Sandnes Ulf | 13 | 25 | 0,52 |
| 9 | Sanel Kapidžić | Fredrikstad | 12 | 28 | 0,43 |
| Robin Shroot | Hødd | 12 | 30 | 0,40 | |
| 11 | Mats Moldskred | Kongsvinger | 11 | 25 | 0,44 |
| Nicolay Solberg | Ull/Kisa | 11 | 28 | 0,39 |