The Professional American Football League ( or LFA), is a semi-professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

league in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, founded in 2016. Starting with four teams, the LFA has since expanded to eleven members as of 2022. The regular season runs in the spring, from early March to late April. The championship game is called Tazón México (Mexico Bowl), and is currently played on the second Sunday in May. The players are drafted from the country's two

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

conferences: ONEFA and CONADEIP and through international drafts, which mainly recruit American players. LFA is the top level of professional American football in Mexico, having an alliance with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL).

History

Background

American football has been played in Mexico since the 1920s and is the fourth most popular sport in the country. The LFA was the brainchild of Juan Carlos Vázquez, a former

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

commentator. Vázquez was a huge fan of the previous American football league in Mexico called Liga Master, and had always dreamed of creating his own league. In 2015, Vázquez along with Edgar Zapata managed to put together a group of investors who decided to offer football while the NFL,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, ONEFA, and CONADEIP are in the offseason and founded the LFA, which would start two weeks after Super Bowl 50. The LFA would be the first professional

league in Mexico in 20 years.

First years

2016

Four charter members participated in the inaugural 2016 season: the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, the Raptors, the Mayas, and the Condors. All teams were based in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. The first game was played on 21 February 2016, between the Raptors and the Mayas, with the Mayas winning the game 34–6. The first title game, the Tazón México (Mexico Bowl), was held on 10 April 2016 between the Mayas and the Raptors. The Mayas won Tazón México I, 29–13. All games were played at the "Palillo" Martínez Stadium in the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City. The LFA experienced significant financial problems during 2016, with a season average attendance of only 2,000 per game. League MVP Marco García, QB Mexico City Mayas

2017

Despite the financial difficulties in 2016, the LFA expanded to six teams in 2017, with the addition of Dinos de Saltillo and Fundidores Monterrey (Spanish for smelters or founders), who took players from the college programs in the ONEFA and CONADEIP. Due to the difficulty of travel, the Dinos nearly canceled going to Tazón México II. In the end, the game was played on April 30, 2017 at Jesús Martínez "Palillo" between the Mayas and the Dinos. The Mayas maintained dominance over the league and won the Tazón México for the second time, 24–18. On October 28, 2017, Juan Carlos Vázquez left the presidency of the LFA. The title of President was eliminated and the position of the Commissioner was created, which was occupied by Guillermo Ruiz Burguete League MVP Bruno Márquez, QB Mexico City Raptors

2018

On January 16, the newly appointed LFA commissioner, Guillermo Ruiz Burguete, resigned. The league did not announce his replacement. For operational purposes, the activities of the commissioner were absorbed by the president of the board of directors of the league, Óscar Pérez. During the 2018 season, the Eagles were renamed the Mexicas. In March, the Mexicas generated controversy by refusing to play against the Dinos in Week 3, after a serious knee injury to wide receiver Mubalama Massimango that occurred in Week 1. The Mexicas claim the injury was not properly attended to by the LFA. Although the league recognized that there was an administrative problem with the medical expenses insurance policy, the Mexicas were punished for their actions. The LFA ruled the Dinos game as a forfeit by the Mexicas, and the Mexicas team was fined Mex$657,820.00 (approximately

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

32,000) for damages caused to the league, its TV partners, its press partners, the Dinos team, and the fans. Additional, the Mexicas would have to change their franchise for the 2019 season. On April 22, 2018, the Tazón México was held on a neutral site for the first time, at Estadio Azul. Originally a half-time show was planned, but the band canceled due to recommendation of Civil Protection force. Tazón México III featured the Mexicas and the Raptors, with the Mexicas winning their first title by a shutout of 17–0. In November 2018, the LFA signed a non-binding Letter of Intent with the

to share resources and to allow for at least one CFL game to be played in Mexico. CFL commissioner Randy Ambroise said of the deal later that he hopes it'll raise the level of competition in the LFA and give Canadian football players another competition to compete in if they get dropped from the CFL. "For so many, if they finish their junior career or college career and they're not on a CFL roster then there's kind of nowhere to go and their dream ends, I think that's a tragedy. This is really about growing the game of football." The CFL later held a draft in January 2019. League MVP Ricardo Quintana, QB Mexico City Mexicas

2019

The LFA considered expanding to 10 teams for the 2019 season, with Guadalajara, Puebla, Querétaro and even Tamaulipas among the four possible expansion candidates. However, the league only added two additional franchises: the Osos Toluca (Bears) and the

Artilleros Puebla Artilleros de Puebla (English: ''Puebla Artillerymen'') were a professional American football team based in Puebla City, Mexico. The Artilleros competed in the Central Division of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American footbal ...

(Artillerymen). A new commissioner was announced, Alejandro Jaimes Trujillo. In January 2019, the CFL held a draft for LFA players, with 27 of the 51 players selected. On September 4, 2019, the LFA announced plans for expansion for the 2020 season. The newest addition, the Pioneros Querétaro, were not an LFA expansion team in the truest sense. They are an existing team that joined from another league, Fútbol Americano de México (FAM), where they were crowned champions in their first season. The Pioneros will play their games at the La Pirámide Stadium, which is located in the El Pueblito Sports Unit, in the municipality of Corregidora. But with only one new expansion team, the league had an unbalanced number of teams, presenting difficulty for scheduling. League MVP Bruno Márquez, QB Naucalpan Raptors

2020

The LFA sought to expand by two teams for 2020. One new team joined the league ( Pioneros Querétaro) but the league was unable to secure a tenth expansion team. With only nine teams in the league, the LFA made the decision to put the Mayas franchise on hiatus for 2020. This decision was also made in consideration of a change in ownership of the team. The LFA would field only 8 teams for the 2020 season. After five weeks of league play had been completed, on March 16, the LFA announced the suspension of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic.

2021

On February 16, 2021 the LFA announced that Marco Montes would be the new owner of the Mayas and that the franchise would be relocated to

Puebla City Puebla de Zaragoza (; ; ), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and t ...

. Despite the move, the Mayas franchise would officially fold in 2021. The Pioneros Querétaro would leave the LFA to return to FAM. The 2021 LFA season was once again canceled due to the

pandemic.

2022

On February 3, 2022, the Condors CDMX franchise relocated to Querétaro City and changed their name to Gallos Negros. Following the rebrand, the league considers Gallos Negros as a new franchise that began competing in the 2022 season. The LFA would add two more teams: Jalisco Reyes, based in Zapopan, Jalisco and Tijuana Galgos. The LFA would also lose a team, as Osos de Toluca would fold in January 2021. With these changes, the 2022 season would have seven teams and, unlike the previous seasons, the league will not be divided into two divisions. As a result, the league decided to expand the playoff field from four teams to six teams. The top two teams will have a bye in the quarterfinals and will host home field in the semifinals. On March 4, 2022, the Querétaro Gallos Negros defeated the Tijuana Galgos by a score of 33–9 at Estadio Caliente to begin the new season. The Saltillo Dinos finished the year with a league-best 5–1 record, suffering their only loss to the Naucalpan Raptors on a 27-28 thriller that featured a game-winning score by QB Bruno Márquez as time expired. However, their success did not translate to the playoffs. Despite ending with a 1–5 record, the Querétaro Gallos Negros qualified for the post-season. They proceeded to go on a miraculous playoff run, earning a spot in the Tazón México. Meanwhile, the Monterrey Fundidores defeated the Naucalpan Raptors in the semi-final to become the second team that would compete in the championship. The fifth edition of the Tazón México was played at Estadio Caliente in

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

. The Monterrey Fundidores, led by Martin Maldonado, defeated the Querétaro Gallos Negros by a score of 18–14 to become champions for the first time in franchise history. *League MVP: Fundidores QB Shelton Eppler was named the season's MVP.

2023

A competing league, Fútbol Americano de México (FAM), shut down operations due to financial trouble in September 2022. Three former FAM teams joined the LFA for the 2023 season: Caudillos de Chihuahua, Jefes de Ciudad Juárez and Reds de la Ciudad de México.

2024

The Reds franchise folded after the 2023 season and the LFA took over the team's operations. A dispersal draft was held on 29 January that resulted in 32 players moving to 8 of the remaining 9 teams, as the Gallos Negros did not participate in the draft. With an unbalanced schedule, at least one team would have a bye every week.

2025

The LFA added a team for 2025, Arcángeles Puebla, while a new ownership group bought the Fundidores de Monterrey franchise and rebranded the team as Osos de Monterrey. The Osos investors are led by former NFL All-Pro center Ryan Kalil and former NBA All-Star Blake Griffin. Other investors include NFL players Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle (San Francisco 49ers); Sam Darnold (Minnesota Vikings); Julius Peppers, Luke Kuechly and Ron Rivera (Carolina Panthers); and sports podcasters Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric Sollenberger.https://mexiconewsdaily.com/lifestyle/osos-de-monterrey-football-mexico-nfl-lfa/

Teams

Former teams

Team timeline

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Rules

Game rules

The rules of the game are the same as those of the NFL. Some of the most notable rules are the instant replay reviews, the

two-minute warning The two-minute warning is a suspension of play in an American football game that occurs when two minutes remain on the game clock in each half of a game, i.e., near the end of the second and fourth quarters, and overtime. Its effect on play is s ...

, the ''coach's challenge'', and the requirement that receivers must have both feet touch the ground in bounds to complete a reception.

Salary cap

Like the NFL, the LFA has a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

. The salary cap is MX$ 2,000,000, approximately $100,000 . There are four salary levels, each of which is determined by the League and is invariable for any team: *Level 1: foreign players, 5 for each team and 2 Canadians, have the highest salary and bonuses for housing and food. *Level 2: franchise players, an offensive and a defensive, must be Mexican and have the second best salary. *Level 3: starters, 17 to 20 per team, have a lower salary than level 2. *Level 4: depth chart players receive a symbolic bonus. *Level 5: practice squad players receive a bonus only if they get to play.

Season format

Draft

Players must have finished their eligibility in college football before playing professionally. Currently, there are two collegiate leagues, the ''Liga Mayor ONEFA'' and the ''Liga Premier CONADEIP''. In these leagues, each player can play five or six years, after which they become eligible for the LFA (they can also declare themselves eligible before finishing their period in college, but it is not usual). Players coming from college football should express their interest in being hired by the LFA. The LFA gives the list of interested players to their teams and they are classified according to the positions they need and the level of each of the players. Each year in January, interested players and LFA teams meet in a one-day player draft. Each team can choose a player in each of the seven rounds of the draft. The draft order is determined by each team's record from the previous year; the team that finished with the worst record has the first draft pick, the team with the second worst record has the next pick, and so on. Once all the teams have made their first selection, one round ends and the second begins, until the seventh and final round. There are also complementary rounds in case any team still requires players. The best players are very coveted, so being selected in the first round is considered a great honor, especially if it is the very first selection overall.

Regular season

The regular season up until 2020 consisted of 10 games: 6 divisional games (home and away series) and 4 interdivisional games (two away and two home). The season starts on the third weekend of February and ends in April. For the 2022 season, there was only six games and seven teams, so every team played against each other once. In 2023, they expanded to 10 teams and a 10-game season returned with everyone playing against each other once and then they would play a second game against a designated “rival” team for the last week of the season.

Postseason

At the end of the regular season, a direct elimination tournament called postseason or playoffs begins, in which the two best teams of each division face each other in the Division Championship in the home stadium of the team with the better record. The postseason occurs between April and May. The winners of these games go to the Tazón México bowl. In 2022, when the league decided to have seven teams play, they did away with divisions for the year and expanded the playoff field to six teams total. This gave the top two seeds first round byes and home field advantages for the semifinals. In 2023, when three new teams were added, the playoff format remaining the same with the league's best six teams based on win-loss record would make the playoffs, and there would be no division placement.

Tazón México

The Tazón México (English: ''Mexico Bowl'') is the title game for the LFA that determines the National Champion. The champions of the North Division and the Central Division meet in a neutral stadium. Each edition of the Tazón México is designated with consecutive Roman numerals, similar to the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

. In certain editions, the name of a company has been added for sponsorship reasons. It is expected that in the future the Tazón México will have a

halftime show A halftime show is a performance given during the brief period between the first and second halves, or the second and third quarters, of a sporting event. Halftime shows are not given for sports with an irregular or indeterminate number of di ...

. The team with the most championships in the Tazón México is Mayas with two. The team with the most appearances in this event is Raptors with three. The current champion is the Fundidores who defeated the Gallos Negros (the defending champions formerly known as the Condors) in Tazon Mexico V by score of 18–14.

Tazón México Champions

Notable players

* Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, WR Monterrey Fundidores (2017) * Guillermo Villalobos, WR Mexico City Mexicas (2016–present) * Bruno Márquez, QB Mexico City Condors / Naucalpan Raptors (2016–2023)
Karrheem Darrington
DB Naucalpan Raptors (2019–2022) * Sergio Schiaffino, DB Saltillo Dinos (2018–present) * Shelton Eppler, QB Monterrey Fundidores (2022–present) * Omar Cojolum, RB Mexico City Mayas / Saltillo Dinos (2016–present) * Kasey Peters, QB Monterrey Fundidores (2019) * Jeremy Johnson, Caudillos (2022–present)

Notes

References

External links

*
Mexican Federation of American Football

International Federation of American Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga de Futbol Americano Profesional Professional sports leagues in Mexico Sports leagues established in 2016 2016 establishments in Mexico