Each season the league holds two tournaments; the Apertura, which starts in the summer, and the Clausura, which starts in the winter. As of 2012, the league comprises 18 clubs, with one being relegated every year (two tournaments) based upon their performance in the league over the previous three years. The first 8 teams in the table at the end of the regular phase of the tournament qualify to the liguilla ("mini-league", or "playoff"). Up until July 2011, the league was divided into 3 groups. The group formatting was removed in favor of a single-table format.
The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in all of Latin America. According to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, the league currently ranks 20th worldwide and was ranked as the 10th strongest league in the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010). 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 soccer league in North America and the fourth largest crowds of any professional sports league in North America, behind only the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the Canadian Football League.
Of the 56 teams to have competed in the league, América have won the title a record 12 times, followed by Guadalajara (11), Toluca (10), Cruz Azul (8), León and Pumas UNAM (7), and Pachuca (6). The current league champions are Pachuca, who won the Clausura 2016 tournament.