What is LigaPro?
The Serie A of Ecuadorian men’s football is organised by LigaPro and sold as Liga Ecuabet under a naming deal with a betting company that runs from 2025 to 2033, worth about USD 50m and roughly double the USD 27.2m the league earned from 2019 to 2025.[1] [6]
How does it work?
The 2026 format opens with a Fase Inicial of 30 rounds — a double round-robin among the 16 clubs, completed on 11 September 2026. The top six then play a hexagonal for the title, carrying their points and goals forward, which also decides three Copa Libertadores and three Copa Sudamericana places; seventh to tenth play a cuadrangular for the last Sudamericana place; and the bottom six play a relegation hexagonal from which two clubs drop to Serie B. Clubs may register eight foreign players, a quota criticised in Ecuador for squeezing domestic development.[2] [3] [7]
Since when does it exist?
Ecuador’s first national championship was played in 1957. The last decade has been unusually open — Delfín (2019), Independiente del Valle (2021) and Aucas (2022) all won first titles — with LDU Quito taking 2023 and 2024 before Independiente del Valle’s 2025 championship, clinched on 6 December 2025 with a 1–1 draw against Libertad.[4] [5]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Independiente del Valle | 75 points — clinched 6 December 2025; second title |
| 2024 | LDU Quito | Final vs Independiente del Valle |
| 2023 | LDU Quito | Final vs Independiente del Valle |
| 2022 | Aucas | First title |
| 2021 | Independiente del Valle | First title |
| 2020 | Barcelona SC | |
| 2019 | Delfín SC | First title |
| 2018 | LDU Quito | |
| 2017 | Emelec | |
| 2016 | Barcelona SC |
Champions of the last ten seasons.
Why does it matter?
CONMEBOL’s 2026 club ranking places LDU Quito 10th, Independiente del Valle 16th and Barcelona SC 28th — three clubs in the top 30 from a league of 16 — and Ecuadorian clubs won the Copa Sudamericana in 2019, 2022 and 2023, Independiente del Valle twice and LDU Quito once.[8] [9]
References
- LigaPro — official site. Accessed September 2026.
- Extra — LigaPro 2026: así se definen el hexagonal por el título, el cuadrangular y el descenso. Accessed September 2026.
- Primicias — Tabla de posiciones y objetivos en la última fecha de la Fase Inicial. Accessed September 2026.
- Primicias — Independiente del Valle, campeón de la LigaPro 2025. Accessed September 2026.
- worldfootball.net — Ecuador Serie A: winners list. Accessed September 2026.
- El Universo — LigaPro junto a Ecuabet anuncian acuerdo histórico para el fútbol ecuatoriano. Accessed September 2026.
- Primicias — Cuota de extranjeros en la LigaPro pone en riesgo el recambio. Accessed September 2026.
- CONMEBOL — Ranking de Clubes CONMEBOL 2026 (PDF). Accessed September 2026.
- Wikipedia — Copa Sudamericana (background). Accessed September 2026.