Liga MX has announced the end of promotion and relegation between the top-flight Mexican soccer league and the second-tier Liga Expansion in the 2026-27 campaign.
Traditionally, only one team has been relegated, and one team promoted between the tiers, but that was suspended at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 for an indefinite (and disputed) period to insulate the clubs from the financial impacts of lost revenue during the enforced lockdown.
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This comes after the outcome at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (the tribunal called on by representatives of the second-tier sides) decision in 2025, which rejected an appeal by six Liga Expansion clubs to reinstate promotion and relegation ahead of the 2025-26 season, stating that the 2026-27 campaign was the earliest point at which that concept had to return.
Whether or not a further appeal may be launched is yet to be revealed.
Now, the FMF governing body’s executive board revealed in the competition regulations for the upcoming campaign that Liga MX would continue its ever-increasing period of disconnection from the Liga Expansion.
Furthermore, in a break from previous sides, the three teams that finish at the bottom of the Liga MX will no longer be fined for their poor league position.
In years past, teams had been fined as much as 80 million pesos ($4.6 million) for the bottom team, 47 million from the second bottom, and 33 million from the third bottom.
Proceeds from those fines had been distributed to Liga Expansion clubs as a consideration for the lack of promotion, but that will now be eliminated.
As it turns out, these fines were not paid at the end of the 2026 Clausura campaign (the second half of the two-part Liga MX season).
This is the latest move in Liga MX’s continued efforts to emulate the franchise-style model of the neighboring MLS in the US.
The 18 Liga MX sides have all supported proposals for an end to relegation, coming up against stiff opposition.
Now, the only way to enter the competition is to acquire the license of an existing club (although in the future, there is certain to be a new license acquisition mechanism to aid league expansion).
That is exactly what Atlante, the leaders of the Liga Expansion in 2025-26, did to enter the Liga MX for the upcoming 2026-27 season, acquiring a league membership certificate (effectively franchise rights) from now-dissolved club Mazatlan.
On the same day as that sale, Liga MX announced that it would be separating itself from the FMF governing body and operating as an independent organization, a move in line with most of the globe’s other top-tier soccer properties, such as Spain's LaLiga and the English Premier League.
The Liga Expansion, meanwhile, is still operated by the FMF.
In a statement at the time, the FMF said: “Representatives of the 18 Liga MX teams unanimously approved a new corporate governance model based on best practices from European leagues. A historic step that strengthens the institutional structure.
"This corporate reorganization aims to pave the way for Liga MX to become a global league, more competitive in sporting terms and more efficient commercially.”
It also, practically, serves to entrench the separation of Liga MX from the rest of Mexican soccer from a governance perspective.
The 2026-27 Liga MX season kicks off today with the opening of the Apertura half of the campaign.
