The club is the 2nd latest in a long line of league teams in the city of Tijuana. Gallos Caliente was instituted in the summer of 2006 but it disappeared that same year. Then some businessmen from Tijuana bought the Guerreros de Tabasco and moved it to Tijuana, becoming Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. The team and owner announced the construction of
Estadio Caliente, a new stadium with a capacity for 33,333 people near Grupo Caliente's
Agua Caliente Racetrack. Jorge Alberto Hank, the son of
Jorge Hank Rhon, is the president of the team. The team advanced to the Primera División de México with a win at home over
Irapuato, 2–1 on May 21, 2011. Jorge Alberto Hank and Gog Murguia Fernandez, the vice president, became the youngest executives in the history of Mexican first-tier football.
The First Title promoted the club to
Primera División de México in 2011. The team obtained its first title in the Apertura 2010 tournament, after having finished as general leader during the regular tournament, which gave them a direct pass to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals the Xolos faced
Albinegros de Orizaba. In both semifinal legs, the Xolos and Albinegros finished 0–0, with the aggregate score 0–0 too. The position that the Xolos had during the regular tournament permitted them to pass to the final against the
Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. In the first leg the "Xolos" had a surprise 2–0 win in the
Estadio Luis "Pirata" Fuente in Veracruz, while in their field they won again 1–0 and this way Tijuana obtained half a ticket towards the first tier of Mexican football, the Primera División Mexicana.
Promotion to Liga MX The final of the Clausura 2011 of the
Liga de Ascenso was between Tijuana and
Irapuato. The first leg was played on May 11 in Tijuana's stadium. The game finished 1–1. The second leg played was in Irapuato, in the
Estadio Sergio León Chavez. Irapuato won the game 1–0, being crowned champion of the Clausura 2011 afterwards. With Tijuana winning the Apertura 2010 title, the Promotion Final was going to be, yet again, Tijuana vs Irapuato. The first leg was played in Irapuato on May 18 and it remained 0–0. Played in Tijuana's
Estadio Caliente, the second leg saw the Club Tijuana being crowned champion of the Promotion Final with a result of 2–1. Thus Tijuana replaced the
Necaxa as the new Primera Division Team in Mexico.
Liga MX Debut Kicking off their inaugural season in the Primera Division, Tijuana signed
José Sand,
Leandro Augusto,
Fernando Arce,
Egidio Arévalo and
Dayro Moreno moved to Tijuana for a fee of US$3.5 m. during summer 2011. Tijuana opened the 2011–12 season with a 2–1 home loss to
Morelia. American
Joe Corona scored the club's first top-flight goal in the defeat. They would earn their first victory as a top-flight club in a 3–1 victory at
Santos Laguna on August 6; however, after five consecutive home matches without a victory manager
Joaquin del Olmo was sacked and replaced by
Antonio Mohamed. After having finished the 2011 Apertura with just three wins against nine draws and five losses, Tijuana would have more success in the 2012 Clausura. Behind the
league's top defense (allowing just 11 goals in 17 matches), Tijuana finished with seven wins and seven draws against just three defeats and earned their first playoff berth in the top flight, where they would fall to
Monterrey.
Apertura 2012 Champions Xolos continued their strong defense in the 2012–13 Liga MX season. In the 2012 Apertura, Xolos allowed joint-fewest goals with 15 while finishing tied atop the table with
Toluca. Seeded #2 in the La liguilla, they would avenge the previous season's defeat to Monterrey before rallying from a 2–0 deficit against
León in the semi-finals. They won the Liguilla over Toluca with a 4–1 aggregate victory, achieving the title in the shortest time after promotion to the top flight in Mexican history. Xolos faltered in the Clausura, finishing in 10th place, two points outside of Liguilla qualification. However, invited to
Copa Libertadores, Tijuana made a run to the quarter-finals before falling to
Atlético Mineiro. ==Stadium==