An amateur league (which became semi-pro in 1950) started in La Paz in 1914, the LPFA (La Paz Football Association, which is currently called the Asociacion de Futbol de La Paz), the first association of soccer in Bolivia. The LPFA was considered for many years the top soccer tournament in the country.
Founded in 1925, the Federación Boliviana de Fútbol didn't organize a national championship until 1958. These championships included representatives of all regional associations, although the LPFA had also included representatives of Oruro and Cochabamba in its championships. Despite this cup being considered the top Bolivian football championship, the LPFA league was still considered the most competitive one.
The creation of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviano ended the distinction. It also resulted in the creation of three separate entities: the FBF's role was restricted to the international representation of Bolivia in the sport, the newly created LPFB became the organizer of the sole 1st Division tournament, and the LPFA, together with the rest of the regional associations, became the organizer of the Second (and lower) division regionalized tournaments.It's the first and currently the only professional sports league in the country.
Since 1975, a total of 11 clubs have been crowned champions of the Bolivian football league system. Of the 35 clubs to have competed since the inception of the La Liga in 1977, ten have won the title: Bolivar (20 titles), The Strongest (10), Jorge Wilstermann (5), Blooming (5), Oriente Petrolero (4), San José (2), Universitario (2), Real Potosí (1), Aurora (1), Sport Boys (1). The current champions are Sport Boys, who won the title in the 2015-16 season (Torneo Apertura).
The championship format has changed over the years. Beginning in 1977, the league ran with sixteen clubs divided into two series, but switched to fourteen clubs in two series playing two tournaments each year beginning in the mid 80s and economical problems with some teams led to another cut in the number of participants to twelve in 1991. Another change came in 2005 when teams decided to adapt to the International FIFA calendar, meaning the season would be played from August to June rather than from February to December, in order to avoid problems defining which teams would qualify for international tournaments. The league played a short tournament from February to June in 2005, and the official 2005-06 season started in August. This led to yet another problem — second division teams weren't keen on the idea of putting off relegation until June 2006. After negotiations, the league determined that relegation of the lowest standing club would take place after the completion of the Apertura tournament, making the Bolivian league an odd tournament where teams were relegated in the middle of the season. But this decision was overturned in November 2006 and the league switched back to a calendar-year season in 2007 starting with the Apertura tournament in March 2007.
Historically, teams from La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz have dominated the league. Until 2007 only San José won the league in 1995, but since then teams from the "big three" have struggled to win the league again and 3 teams from smaller cities have won it (Real Potosí, San José and Universitario).
