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The Clausura 2009 of the Primera Division de Mexico began in mid-January, and will run to the final day of May.  {Wikipedia page, Click here}.   The map features an explanation of the complex league format.  The format was established to help the clubs create fixtures which draw larger crowds (ie, the playoff matches,  as well as the US-based InterLiga matches which decide 2 of the 3 Copa Libertadores qualifiers).  The byzantine format has helped get many of the clubs out of crippling financial situations,  but it is rather complicated. 

Here is a good write-up about the Mexican Primera Divsion from the US Soccer Players site:  {Click here}.

Mexican Primera División table  {Click here (ESPN)}.

Thanks to the Albion Road site  {Click here}.  Plus thanks to Jeremy for helping me get to the bottom of the sordid CD Irapuoto-to-ersatz Veracruz-to-Jaguares de Chiapas franchise movement.

In 2002, the people who ran the Veracruz club had the gall to buy another club and move the team to Veracruz and play as Veracruz in the first division, while the real Veracruz was in the 2nd division.  They bought and moved the 1st division club  CD Irapuato in early 2002, in between the Verano 2001 and Invierno 2002 half-seasons. For 19 games in 2002, there was a Veracruz in both the first and the second divisions (!?).  So of course, the 2nd-division-Veracruz won promotion after the Invierno 2002.  Management sold the formerly-Irapuato-now-Veracruz club to a group in the impoverished and fractious Chiapas state.  [Remember the masked revolutionary-leader Subcommandante Marcos  {see this}, from news reports around 8 or 9 years ago?  That place.].  The original-Veracruz ended up being relegated back to the Primera División A (the 2nd division) after the Clausura 2008.  A new club was created,  in the 2nd division,  for Irapuato for the 2002-’03 season.  The club won promotion that season,  and played in Primera Division in the 2003-’04 season,  but were relegated in 2004.  Irapuato were relegated again to the third division.  3 years later,  Pachuca-B gained promotion to the second division,  and the club was sold and moved to…Irapuato.  Talk about full circle.

Note: In the link I put up from the US Soccer Players site,  this affair is touched upon in the 11th paragraph,  the one that begins… “Much like American sports, owners can throw a wrench in relegation plans by moving teams all over the country and changing names…”  {Click here,  and go to the 11th paragraph}.

Thanks to the contributors to the relevant pages at Wikipedia  {Mexican Primera Division page,  Click here}.

The Mexican Clausura 2008 runs from January 18 to May 31.  Current champion is recently transplanted club Atlante.  Last summer, this poorly supported club from Mexico City moved 600 miles east, to the resort town of Cancun, on the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula.  Then they won the Apertura 2007, in December, beating UNAM Pumas 2-1, in the second leg of the playoffs final. 

Teams are split into three groups.  Clausura 2008 standings (general), click here.  To see the Clausura 2008 groups, click here.   Pacuca won the last Clausura (2007).

Here is a round-up of games played last weekend:  {Click for http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/mexico }.

8 teams make the playoffs.  The top 2 teams from each group make it to the playoffs (6 teams); the last 2 spots are determined by a sub-playoff between 7th through 10th place finishers.  There is one team relegated after each Apertura or Clausura; and one team is promoted from the second division.   Which team is relegated is decided on a three-year points average (like Argentina).  This helps maintain the status quo, as a team just promoted has to finish much higher than second-from-last to avoid the drop.  **{See this article, from the Guardian website, which goes into the complexities of the Mexican Pimera Division’s playoff system and relegation system.}

The Mexican Primera Division has no unified television contract; each team has their own TV deal.  Like the relegation format, this also allows the bigger clubs to maintain their prominent status.   The two big clubs in Mexico are Chivas Guadalajara (11 titles), and America (10 titles).  Chivas last league title was the 2006 Apertura; America’s last title was the 2005 Clausura. 

[Note:  I was unable to find attendance figures for the teams in the Mexican Primera Division, but I did find a list (from October 2007) that has the Mexican league drawing around 22,000 per game.  Click here, for the list. ]