The Italian Serie B was founded in 1929 and currently comprises some 22 professional football teams who play each other twice (home and away) during the course of a season. Serie B is the second highest professional football division in Italy and operates in much the same way as any other non-top flight league. Italian Serie B matches are typically played on a Saturday and the season itself features a round robin format that lasts from August to May. The current (2008-09) Italian Serie B Champions are Bari, whilst the most successful Serie B team in the league's history is Genoa, who have won an impressive six championships.

At the end of the season, the top two Serie B teams are automatically promoted to Serie A – the top echelon of Italy's professional football league system. In the event of the third placed team finishing 10 or more points clear of the fourth placed team, then the third placed team will also be automatically promoted to Serie B. However, if this is not the case, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th placed teams enter a two-leg play-off tournament to decide which will be awarded promotion.

As Serie B is not the lowest professional football league in Italy, the bottom placed teams will be relegated to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione. Specifically, the three last placed teams (20th – 22nd inclusive) will be automatically relegated, whilst the 19th placed team will also be relegated unless it is within 4 points of 18th place, in which case those two teams compete in a play-off to determine the final relegation spot. Sports betting is hugely popular in respect to Italian football and Serie B is no exception, with Ancona, Torino and Lecce among this year's favourites for the title.