Liga MX

Liga MX
Organising bodyFederación Mexicana de Fútbol (FMF)
Founded1943; 81 years ago (1943), as Liga Mayor
CountryMexico
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of teams18
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toLiga de Expansión MX
(Suspended)
Domestic cup(s)Copa MX
Campeón de Campeones
League cup(s)Leagues Cup
International cup(s)CONCACAF Champions Cup
Current championsAmérica (15th title)
Most championshipsAmérica
(15 titles)
Most appearancesÓscar Pérez (745)
Top goalscorerEvanivaldo Castro (312)
TV partnersDomestic
Caliente TV
Claro[1]
ESPN[2]
Fox Sports[3]
Televisa[4]
TV Azteca[5]
International
OneFootball (Selected matches in selected markets outside of Mexico)
Websitewww.ligamx.net
Current: Apertura 2024

Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons,[6] is the top professional football division of the Mexican football league system. Formerly called Liga Mayor (1943-1949) and then Primera División de México (1949-2012), it has 18 clubs and the season is divided into two short tournaments, Apertura from July to December and Clausura from January to May. The champions of each tournament is decided by a final phase called "liguilla". Since 2020, promotion and relegation has been suspended, which is to last until 2026.

The league currently ranks first in CONCACAF's league ranking index.[7] According to the IFFHS, Liga MX was ranked as the 10th strongest league in the first decade of the 21st century.[8] According to CONCACAF, the league – with an average attendance of 25,557 during the 2014-15 season – draws the largest crowds on average of any football league in the Americas and the third largest crowds of any professional sports league in North America, behind only the National Football League and Major League Baseball. It is also the fourth most attended football league in the world behind Germany's Bundesliga, England's Premier League and Spain's La Liga.[9] Liga MX ranks second in terms of television viewership in the United States, behind the English Premier League.[10]

América have won the league a record of 15 times, followed by Guadalajara with 12 titles.[11] In all, twenty-four teams have won the Primera División/Liga MX title at least once.[11]

  1. ^ includes Claro Sports
  2. ^ includes ESPN 2
  3. ^ includes Fox Sports 2
  4. ^ Includes Canal 5, Nueve, Las Estrellas, Sky México, TUDN and Izzi Telecom
  5. ^ includes Azteca 7 and Azteca Uno
  6. ^ "Liga MX hace oficial su cambio de nombre y logo". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  7. ^ "CONCACAF League Ranking Index". CONCACAF. 4 May 2023.
  8. ^ "The strongest Leagues in the World in the first Decade of 21st Century". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Best attended domestic sports leagues in the world". Sporting Intelligence. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  10. ^ Shea, Bill (9 February 2023). "What could top the Super Bowl on U.S. TV? Soccer, aliens and not much else". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023. Major League Soccer ranks third in U.S. soccer viewership after the Premier League and Mexico's top-flight Liga MX, leagues that have much longer histories.
  11. ^ a b "Tigres campeón: ¿Cuántos campeonatos tiene cada equipo de la Liga MX?". TUDN (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 August 2023.