Background Previous to the establishment of Liga MX Femenil, there were attempts by the
Mexican Football Federation, Liga MX clubs, and women's football advocates to professionalize women's football in Mexico, but none of these attempts were successful.
Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil In 2007, there was an attempt to professionalize women's football in Mexico via the
Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil. While the league did foster some success, it did not have major sponsorships and lacked media coverage as well as fan support. Therefore, major clubs participating in the league such as
Chivas, pulled their support.
NWSL (second from left) playing for the
Chicago Red Stars during the inaugural season of the NWSL. In November 2012, the
United States Soccer Federation announced the establishment of the
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in a push to professionalize women's soccer in the
United States. In an arrangement with the U.S. Soccer Federation to develop Mexican talent in the United States, the
Mexican Football Federation pledged to allocate Mexican players to NWSL clubs while also covering the salaries of such players. Well-known Mexican players such as
Maribel Domínguez and
Mónica Ocampo were among the first players to be allocated to the NWSL as part of this arrangement, which was in effect from 2013 until early 2016, when the Mexican Football Federation announced that it would no longer continue allocating players to the NWSL due to the limited playing time these players were receiving, foreshadowing the creation of Liga MX Femenil.
First professional women's team The late
Marbella Ibarra was an enthusiastic women's football advocate who persuaded
Club Tijuana to create a professional women's team in 2014. Former
Mexico women's national football team player
Andrea Rodebaugh took the helm as manager during the program's stint in the
Women's Premier Soccer League.
A new Mexican league Announcement and preparation On 5 December 2016, during a general assembly meeting with all
Liga MX club owners, former Liga MX President, Enrique Bonilla, announced the formation of the new Liga MX Femenil in an effort to grow and build talent within Mexico. The announcement stated that 16 out of the 18 Liga MX clubs (excluding
Puebla and
Chiapas due to financial problems) would field U-23 rosters with four U-17 players and up to two overage players. The tournament took place between 3 May and 6 May 2017, with only 12 of the 16 teams participating due to four clubs not having a team ready by the time of the tournament's inauguration.
Pachuca won this tournament by winning the final 9–1 against
Club Tijuana.
First tournament The first Apertura 2017 matches were played on 28 July 2017.
Chivas won the first Liga MX Femenil championship on 24 November 2017 by defeating
Pachuca in the final. The two matches drew record-setting crowds of 28,955 and 32,466 spectators, respectively. Commentator Glenn Moore declared Liga MX Femenil to have concluded a "very successful debut campaign."
Regulations During the
inaugural season, teams were expected to field U-23 rosters; four slots were reserved for U-17 players, while two were for overage players. All players had to be born in Mexico. Additionally, the sixteen teams were split into two groups. Teams in each group played each other twice per season. The top two teams from each group advanced to the liguilla (playoffs), which consisted of a semifinal of two matches (home and away) followed by a final, also of two matches. League rules mostly stayed the same for the
second season. However, the U-23 limit was raised to U-24. liguilla spots were also expanded to include eight teams instead of four, with the top four teams from each group moving on to the liguilla. For the
third season, the age limit was raised to 25, but each team was allowed to field up to 6 overage players at a time. In addition, the groups were undone, so each team would play each other at least once during the season. Foreign-born Mexican players were also allowed to play, with up to six allowed per team. This decision brought in more players to the league from the
NCAA, as well as from the NWSL and Spain's
Primera División. For the
fourth season, the overage limit was removed, nonetheless the teams are still being required to allocate a certain amount of minutes of playing time per tournament to U-20 players to satisfy the league's minors rule. The
Campeón de Campeonas championship was also introduced to the league for the first time, with Tigres winning the first edition automatically after winning the league title of both tournaments of the 2021–22 season. For the
fifth season, the league began to allow teams to have two non-Mexican players on their rosters. On 25 June 2021,
Tigres became the first club to make use of this option by signing Brazilian player
Stefany Ferrer. The league also inaugurated its youth division;
Club América won the initial tournament. Beginning with the
sixth season, the league began implementing
VAR in the Liguilla phase of the tournament. Non-Mexican players spots also increased from two to four per team. During the
eighth season, the league introduced an additional spot for non-Mexican players, thus allowing each team to have up to five non-Mexican players in their squad. The league also made changes to the minors rule to no longer take into account U-20 players’ playing time with their youth national teams (U-20 and U-17) unless the players received substantial playing time during a given tournament (90 minutes for U-17 players and 180 for U-20 players).
Notable results The league set history during the
Clausura 2018 tournament as the second match of the final between
Monterrey and
Tigres at
Estadio BBVA was at the time the highest-attended club match in women's football history, with a total of 51,211 fans attending the game. This record has been broken multiple times since then, but Mexico still holds the record for the highest attendance on a women's football match, which took place during the
1971 Women's World Cup final at
Estadio Azteca. On 5 October 2019, a Liga MX Femenil team obtained for the first time a victory against an
NWSL team when
Tigres defeated
Houston Dash 2–1 at the
Estadio Universitario. Previously, the Houston Dash had faced
Monterrey in 2018 in a preseason match that ended with a 3–1 victory in favor of the Dash; This match represented the first time that a Liga MX Femenil team faced an NWSL side. On 5 July 2022, a Liga MX Femenil team and a European team faced each other for the first time when
Club América played against
Frauen-Bundesliga team
Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Estadio Azteca. The match ended in a 1–0 victory for América. In November 2022, the league's previous highest attendance record set during the
Clausura 2018 final between
Monterrey and
Tigres (51,211 attendees) was broken as the first match of the
Apertura 2022 final between Tigres and
Club América at
Estadio Azteca drew a crowd of approximately 52,654 fans. This final also broke TV viewership records as it was viewed by more than 5.3 million people, therefore becoming the most-viewed Liga MX Femenil final in history. As a whole, the
Apertura 2022 tournament was until that point the most viewed tournament in Liga MX Femenil history. Additionally, the previous attendance record of the league that was set during the Apertura 2022 final was broken once again during the Clausura 2023 tournament final, as approximately 58,156 fans attended the second leg of this final at Estadio Azteca to watch
Club América win its second title in history. The Clausura 2023 tournament also became the most viewed tournament in league history as more than 15 million people tuned in to watch throughout the tournament. During the
Apertura 2023 tournament, the transfer of
Miah Zuazua from
FC Juárez to
Club América was the first transaction between two Liga MX Femenil clubs in which a transfer fee was paid. In 2024, the league in collaboration with the
NWSL staged the
Summer Cup. This competition featured all 14 teams from the NWSL and the six Liga MX Femenil teams that accumulated the most number of points across the Clausura and Apertura tournaments during 2023. The league largest transfer in history for an incoming player came on 12 September 2024, when
América reached an agreement with
SC Internacional to transfer 20-years old Brazilian international forward
Priscila to its ranks in exchange of a $497,403 fee plus incentives, making this transaction the largest one between Latin-American women's football clubs, and one of the largest in women's football. On 21 August 2025, Tigres reached an agreement to transfer Mexican forward
Lizbeth Ovalle to NWSL club
Orlando Pride for a world-record transfer fee in women’s football, reportedly of around $1.5 million USD, therefore breaking the previous record that was set with the transfer of
Olivia Smith from
Liverpool to
Arsenal just a month prior. On 22 August 2025, the league celebrated their first
All-Star game by facing
FC Barcelona in Monterrey. The match was won by Barcelona on penalties after a 2–2 draw.
Club changes For the inaugural season, only 16 of the 18 Liga MX clubs had a Liga MX Femenil team as Chiapas and Puebla were allowed to not have a team due to financial problems. Additionally, the Lobos BUAP franchise was acquired by then-second division club
FC Juárez, as such the
Lobos BUAP femenil team moved from Puebla to Juárez to form
FC Juárez Femenil. After the Apertura 2019,
Veracruz folded in Liga MX, as such
Veracruz Femenil became a defunct club as well, bringing the league back down to 18 teams. In June 2020, amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic, the
Monarcas Morelia franchised was relocated to
Mazatlán, putting an end to
Morelia Femenil's three-years old trajectory in the top flight, and creating and integrating
Mazatlán F.C. as the newest member of the league.
Sponsorships Prior to the third season,
BBVA México announced that it would sponsor Liga MX Femenil in addition to Liga MX and Ascenso MX. With the sponsorship, which is slated for at least three years, the league's name was changed to Liga BBVA MX Femenil in June 2019. Each club also have their own sponsors. On 29 March 2023, Liga MX Femenil announced that
Nike would become an official sponsor of the league. Unlike other sponsorships the league has, this one is exclusively for Liga MX Femenil. With this sponsorship, the official match ball of the league will be provided by Nike. Nike will also be providing equípment to all league players including players of the league's youth division, product innovation, and investment in development programs. The sponsorship went into full effect beginning with the
2023–24 season and is set to last for three years.
Lower and youth divisions Lower divisions In addition to the
Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Femenil, Mexico is also home to the Liga Mayor Femenil. Many players in Liga MX Femenil previously played in either of these existing leagues, as well as in various Mexican or US college teams and the
WPSL. On 25 September 2024,
Liga TDP Femenil was announced to the public with the support of the
Mexican Football Federation,
Liga TDP, and
Liga Premier clubs with the goal of developing players that can be integrated into Liga MX Femenil clubs. Although the league is not professional, it is considered to be by the Mexican Football Federation as the third division of women's football in Mexico. The league first season officially began on 8 October 2024.
Youth division Since 2022, Liga MX Femenil has had a youth division to develop telent in which all clubs are required to participate. This division began as a U-17 division, but it gradually incremented the allowed age of the players that could participate in it after each season until it became a U-19 division during 2023–24 season. There are future plans for the league to expand this division by including unique categories for ages 15–20. ==Competition format==