Mexican football has never been more divided. At the top sits Liga MX: a closed, comfortable, highly profitable franchise league. Below it, Liga de Expansión MX struggles to survive on residual interest, shrinking budgets and broken promises. The official confirmation that promotion and relegation will not return in the 2026-27 season has turned a temporary pandemic measure into a permanent economic hierarchy.
The result is a system where sporting success in the second tier brings almost no financial reward, and long-term investment is punished rather than encouraged.
Winning the Expansión title no longer opens a door. It merely confirms that the ceiling has already been reached.
The economic collapse of the second tier
Since promotion and relegation were suspended in 2020, player salaries in Liga de Expansión have fallen dramatically. Industry voices claim drops of up to 70 percent. Market valuations of players and clubs have followed the same downward path. Studies show the average value of an Expansión player declined while Liga MX player values rose, widening the gap between the two divisions.
Even more damaging is the loss of the previous compensation mechanism. For years, the bottom three Liga MX clubs paid substantial fines that were redistributed to Expansión teams. Those fines have now been eliminated. At the same time, the modest federal-style subsidy that some clubs received has been reduced. The message is clear: the second division is expected to survive on matchday income, sporadic player sales and the goodwill of local governments.
Matchday income, however, is fragile. Average attendances hover around 3,000–3,400 spectators. After a team wins the title, interest often collapses for the following fixtures — a phenomenon several club executives openly call the “we already won” effect. Fans celebrate the championship and then stay home. Without the possibility of promotion, the emotional and commercial upside of winning simply evaporates.
Talent development without a ladder
One of the strongest arguments made by serious Expansión projects is social rather than purely financial. Clubs such as Cancún FC have invested in local talent, at times fielding multiple players from Quintana Roo. The same logic applies in Zacatecas, Yucatán, Baja California Sur and other regions without a Liga MX presence.
In an open system, these clubs would serve as genuine pathways. A teenager from Cancún or Mérida could develop at home, win promotion and reach the top flight without needing to move to Pachuca or Guadalajara at fourteen. In the current closed model, that pathway is blocked. The best local talents either leave early or never fully develop.
The contrast with Europe is striking. Clubs that rise from the fourth or third division in Spain, France or England can attract investment precisely because the ladder exists. Como in Italy and Leganés in Spain are frequently cited examples: patient investment from the bottom produced promotion and, eventually, continental competition. In Mexico, the same logic is treated as a threat to the established 18.
“We don’t want to survive. We want to build a new stadium and a sports city. Our investors are interested in the long term — but not in a league without a ceiling.”
Why the current model protects mediocrity
Liga MX owners frequently argue that most Expansión clubs lack the infrastructure and financial strength to compete at the top level. That argument has become a convenient shield. Certification requirements can be designed to filter serious projects. Gradual expansion — first to 20 clubs, with performance bonds and mandatory investment in facilities — would protect existing franchises while still rewarding merit.
Instead, the league has chosen the safest route for the current shareholders: keep the door locked. The only realistic way into Liga MX is to buy an existing franchise, as Atlante did with Mazatlán. Sporting achievement is irrelevant.
This approach has a hidden cost. Clubs such as Guadalajara, which rely heavily on Mexican talent, suffer when the overall pool of competitive opportunities shrinks. A stagnant second tier produces fewer high-level domestic players. The national team and the big clubs eventually pay the price.
What realistic solutions look like
- Gradual expansion to 20 teams with clear minimum infrastructure and financial standards.
- A temporary “soft landing” period in which newly promoted clubs are protected from immediate relegation while existing clubs retain security.
- Performance bonds and controlled investment requirements that ensure money actually goes into stadiums and academies.
- Transparent distribution of commercial rights that gives the second tier a viable share rather than residual crumbs.
None of these ideas are radical. They are standard practice in most competitive football nations. What is radical is the decision to abandon sporting merit as the primary mechanism of mobility.
The silence that speaks volumes
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the current crisis is the public silence of Liga MX owners. Many acknowledge privately that the closed system is unhealthy. Very few are willing to say so on camera. The cultural problem is real: there is little collective willingness among players or executives to challenge the status quo when their own short-term interests are protected.
Meanwhile, Expansión clubs continue to protest, explore new legal avenues and search for political attention. Whether the Court of Arbitration for Sport, federal authorities or a major investment fund eventually forces change remains uncertain. What is certain is that the current structure is not neutral. It actively concentrates money, talent and opportunity at the top while the rest of Mexican football is left to manage decline.
A league that only rewards those already inside eventually becomes smaller than the country it claims to represent. Mexican football still has the raw material — passionate fans, talented young players and serious investors ready to build. What it lacks is the courage to reopen the ladder.
Until that changes, Liga MX will continue generating the money, and everyone else will continue living on the crumbs.
