Liga MX

Liga MX is the highest level of professional association football in Mexico.

Officially known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, it serves as the top tier of the Mexican football league system. The league is a major cultural force, drawing massive crowds and high television viewership. In the United States, it ranks second in television viewership, trailing only the English Premier League. This popularity is reflected in its attendance numbers. During the 2014–15 season, the league saw an average attendance of 25,557 people. This makes it the largest average crowd of any football league in the Americas. It also ranks as the third largest crowd for any professional sports league in North America.

The league operates through a specific tournament structure. The season is divided into two short tournaments to follow the FIFA world football calendar. The first is the Apertura, which runs from July to December. The second is the Clausura, which runs from January to May.

These two tournaments allow for two different champions to be crowned in a single year. This format is common in many Latin American football schedules. It ensures that the competition remains intense throughout the entire calendar year.

To determine a champion, the league uses a final knockout phase called the liguilla.

During the regular phase, 18 clubs compete in a single table. At the end of this phase, the top 10 clubs qualify for the liguilla. The top six clubs advance directly to the quarterfinals. The clubs ranked seventh through tenth must first compete in a play-in round. In this round, the 7th and 8th placed teams play a single match. The winner advances as the 7th seed. The loser then faces the winner of the match between the 9th and 10th placed clubs. The winner of that match becomes the 8th seed.

Once the quarterfinals begin, the format changes slightly. Each tie is played over two legs, meaning each team plays one match at home and one away. The winner is determined by the aggregate score, which is the total number of goals from both matches.

If teams are tied on points at the end of the regular season, several tie-breaking criteria are used. These include goal difference, total goals scored, and away goals scored. The league also considers head-to-head matchups and fair play points. Fair play points are calculated by deducting points for yellow and red cards. A yellow card results in a one-point deduction, while a direct red card results in three points.

The history of professional football in Mexico began long before the current league structure. Before 1943, the sport was in an amateur era. During this time, competitions were held in small regional areas. The Liga Mexicana de Football Amateur Association was formed in 1902 near Mexico City. Other regional leagues also existed in Veracruz, Puebla, Jalisco, and the Bajío. In 1943, the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol established the first true national professional league, called Liga Mayor. The inaugural season featured ten founding clubs, such as América, Atlas, and Necaxa.

The club Asturias became the first champions in the professional era.

Over time, the league has undergone several name and format changes. From 1949 to 2012, it was known as the Primera División de México. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many small clubs faced economic difficulties. These clubs struggled because they lacked access to international competitions like the Copa Libertadores. To fix this, the league introduced the liguilla format after the 1970 World Cup. This change was designed to regenerate interest and reward clubs that performed well. In 2012, the league rebranded as Liga MX. This era also saw the introduction of VAR technology testing in 2018 to help referees make better decisions.

Success in the league is defined by the number of titles a club wins. América is the most successful club in history with sixteen titles. Guadalajara and Toluca follow with twelve titles each. Cruz Azul has won nine titles, while Tigres UANL and León have won eight each. In total, twenty-four different clubs have won at least one league title. The league's competitive balance is also affected by promotion and relegation rules. Historically, the bottom club was relegated to the lower division. However, since 2020, promotion and relegation have been suspended until the 2026–27 season. This suspension occurred following the folding of the Ascenso MX during the COVID-19 pandemic.