Latin America

México

The top division, La Liga Primera, is made up of eighteen teams throughout the country. The following table shows the teams, the home city, stadium, and television organization that has rights to broadcast their home matches within México.

Although the regulations specify the above kickoff times and outline substantial penalties if matches aren't held at the time and place designated, they seem to really be a general guidelines, with changes generously approved. Kickoff times seem to often be changed, apparently to meet the needs of broadcasters and accomodate the need of teams that qualify for other competitions, primarily the Copa Libertadores.

Last minute kickoff changes were much more common in the past. Recently the the league has been better at living up to the regulation except in connection with Libertadores. The rules says no kickoff time changes can be made less than 14 days before a match is scheduled barring major disaster, flood, power failure etc.

And for the final round (Jornada 17) all matches that have any impact on the teams in the Liguilla are played at the same hour on the same day. At the end of the Clausura any matches that have an impact on relegation will also be played at that hour.

In the US nearly every match can be seen on TV. Matches produced by Televisa are on the Univision group in the US, usually Univision will carry one match Sundays at 10 AM, Telefutura will carry from one to three each matchday, and the rest will be aired on Galavision. Nearly every match controlled by TV Azteca is carried in the US on Azteca America. One match produced by Azteca on some matchdays is aired in the US on Fox Sports Español, usually on Saturdays. (The network had been carrying one game from each round, but in 2005 they have missed several rounds, and have carried more than one match occassionally. They have also added one match most weeks from the second division "Primera A").
No more matches on Telemundo, no more rebroadcasts on Gol! TV.

Televisa and Azteca have several networks in México, some matches are played at the same hour. In addition the two main Mexican networks distribute a limited number of their matches only to satellite TV (Sky), but do not carry them on their own over the air stations. Those matches though are shown on the US networks. As a result it is often possible to watch more Mexican matches north of the border than south

The video production from Televisa is usually among the best in the world. This is obviously a subjective issue. Our opinion is that they are not quite as good as World Cup and Champion's League telecasts, level with England and better than anything else. TV Azteca is usually pretty good, but not consistent. Some of their crews are clearly superior to others. They occassionaly win both criticism and praise on the days they put more effort into showing pictures of the prettiest women they can find in the stands.

TV Azteca uses one person to call the first half of each match they televise, and another for the second half, a practice that we have not observed elsewhere. (We have never seen a Televisa broadcast except with narration replaced from Miami). There is another interesting Mexican broadcasting practice on the radio. Some matches are broadcast nationwide, they are 'neutral' broadcasts with a pair or narrators who constantly switch back and forth depending on which team is controlling the ball. As far as we know, none of these rdio broadcasts are available streamed to the the web. The only webcasts we know of are home matches for Atlas, Atlante, Chivas and Veracruz. Occassional matches from Monterey and Tigres. Terra.com also streams rather amateur casual broadcasts from their own studios, and on occasion picks up the radio feed of local stations.

League Setup

The Mexican first division (La Liga Primera) plays two tournaments each year, beginning with the Apertura in August and then the Clausura in January.

This division is divided into three groups of six teams. The members of each group are set for the Apertura based on a snaking formula which assigns teams based on the overall performance in the prior year's two tournaments. This means the first place team is in Group A, second in B, and the third in C. Then the order is reversed with the fourth team also placed in Group C. As a result Group A will contain the teams with the best and the worst records from the previous year. (for 2004-2005 the promoted team, Dorados, is defined as having the "worst" record). For the Clausura the groups remain the same.

In each tournament, each team plays every other team one time. For the Clausura the pairing will be hosted by the team that was the visitor in the Apertura. Usually each round is played on Saturday and Sunday. The rules state that teams may not play until at least 48 hours after their prior game, or 72 hours if the game was played outside México, although this rule has been ignored in the past.

In addition to the eleven starting players, seven players can be listed as substitutes for each match. Three subsitutions can be made in each match.

The standings in the groups and in the overall table are determined by:
> Total points (standard 3 points for win, 1 for draw, 0 for loss)
> Goal Difference
> Total Goals Scored
> Goal difference among tied teams
> Away goal difference among tied teams
> Some kind of 'drawing the straws' lottery

At the end of each tournament the league has playoffs (la Liguilla) to determine the champion. (There are two champions each year). The top two teams in each group qualify for the playoffs, and the two third place teams with the best record qualify, the seeding being based on the overall league table. 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7 and so on.

There is no longer a "Recalificación/ Repechaje" "wild card" round.

In each Liguilla round, except the final, if the total goals in both matches results in a tie, the team with the best record in the season wins the round, no extra time or kicks from the penalty spot.

In the final the "Silver Goal" is used. Two fifteen minute periods are played. If at the end of either of these periods one team has outscored the other, that team wins. Otherwise, after extra time the teams alternates kicks from the penalty spot, with the team ahead after five rounds winning. If still tied they continue with one kick per team until there is a result. Only those players actively playing for both sides at the conclusion of extra time are able to kick, no substitutions are allowed after field play has ended. No player can kick a second time until all other members of the team have kicked once. If, because of injury or for any other reason, a player is unable to take a kick, the kick is recorded as having been missed.

Relegation

At the end of each season the team which has the lowest percentage of points from the previous six tournaments (three years).
The percentage is calculated by dividing the total number of points by the total number of matches played.
Teams that were not in the division for three full years (having recently been promoted) will of course have fewer matches upon which the calculation is based.

Examples: At the end of Apertura 2004 the best positioned team was Toluca, who had 168 points from 93 matches played, for an precentage of 1.8065. The team in the lowest position was San Luis with 55 points in 57 matches for a percentage of 0.9649.

If two teams are tied on percentage, the same tiebreakers as used in determining position in the regular table (see above) will apply. If a team is positioned in the table so they qualify for the post season playoffs, but they are the team relegated, the relegation goes ahead, and their position in the playoff calculations is taken by the team(s) below them. (In the past it was theoretically possible that a relegated team could also be champion, it never happened.)

Televisa

It is impossible to understand the workings of Mexican league soccer without some consideration of Televisa, the media giant. This company's control of Mexican media makes the scene in the USA seem relatively competative. Building on a base of radio station entered the TV market in the early fifties, gradually acquiring all competition. From 1955 until about 1993 Telvisa controlled all significant commercial television, the only other telecasts were controlled by the government. Although, with the creation of TV Azteca about a decade ago, there is now some competition, Televisa continues to dominate the ratings, and advertising revenues, with four network and about 230 stations. In the United States they founded the network that became Univision (then SIN) in 1961. They sold that network to the Hallmark greeting cards company in 1986 but bought back some of the company six years later, and now own about a quarter of Univision. They also are the leading producer of Spanish-language magazines, and have holdings in record production, film production, and theatre chains, as well as the substantial radio holding that the company was founded on.

Televisa owns three first division football teams, Necaxa, San Luis and Club America. They own the Azteca stadium, home of Club America and primary home of the national team. And they control television rights for all the teams they own, as well as most of the most popular teams in the country. The only team extensive nation wide following they do not carry is Cruz Azul.

They spend freely on players for Club America, in an attempt to make that team dominant in México, they seem to want to develop that team to a position similar to Real Madrid in Spain and Manchester United in England. They have suceeded in signing many big name players, mostly from other Mexican clubs, but also from abroad. The most well known name they had in recent years was Ivan Zamarano. So far their efforts have been remarkably unsucessful, they have not been able to figure out how to bind outstanding individual players into an effective team the way their European role models have.

Club America is one of the two most popular teams in the country, the other being Chivas of Guadalajara. When those two teams meet twice each year the media buildup is substantial, like Real Madrid vs Barcelona, River Plate vs Boca Juniors or Celtic vs Rangers.

While one of the most popular, America is also one of the most hated teams in the country, seemingly primarily because of the Televisa ownership. It seems similar to the way many view teams like the New York Yankees. It is compounded by the belief, particularly prior to 2000 that Televisa was an uncritical mouthpiece for a corrupt government, and in particular actively distorted news reporting for decades, culminating in the 1988 election of Carlos Salinas de Gortari as president of the country, elections that are still believed to have been stolen buy the ruling PRI party.

Miscellaneous

1) Each team can have up to six foreign born players on their roster, all other players must be born in Mexico. During the match six Mexican's by birth (mexicanos por nacimiento) must play at any time. In the Districto Federal (México City) the number is seven.
2) Chivas only plays with Mexican players. They did allow (amid much objection) a Mexican who was born in the USA to Mexican parents (Gerardo Luis Mascareño) to play in one season. That was never repeated.
3) The reason so many players wear number 58 is because Guadalajara AM 580 XEAV radio "Canal 58" pays them to do so
4) Mexican average attendance is fifth in the world at 22 thousand (behind Germany, 36k, England, 34k, Spain, 28 k and Italy 26 k. USA averages 15k)
5) From the fourteenth week of each season through the conclusion of the playoffs, a team can not play more than four players who have not appeared in at least four previous matches during the season.
6) Each team must play one or more mexican players less than 21 years old for at least 765 minutes per tournament (Openinig and Closing). Failing to do the team will be docked 3 points in the relegation calculations and if qualified for the Liguilla will lose their spot.
7) If a team fails to play a match, they will immediately be relegated for the following season. (This a result of Veracruz refusing to play in scorching heat after already qualifying for the Liguilla)

Two stations in Mexico, Estadio 1440 Guadalajara and Estadio W Mexico City have been found to carry quite a few live match commentaries.
We haven't figured out a way to determine in advance which matches they cover, although it seems they may carry all Chivas and Atlas matches. The streams have proven to be intermittent, 1440 is reflected from a service in Brazil.

América		We have no information regarding radio broadcasts or webcasts.

Atlas
	All Atlas Home matches are broadcast and streamed by Radio Metropili. Windows Media format.
	Home and away Matches are also carried by Estadio 1440, Guadalajara.

Guadalajara Chivas
	The team official website seems to come and go!
	All Chivas Home matches are broadcast and streamed by Radio Metropili. Windows Media format.
	Matches are also carried by Estadio 1440, Guadalajara

Veracruz
		Veracruz home matches are broadcast over La Nueva FM 96.5 and streamed to the internet. Possibly road matches as well.

	Radio Formula in México carries a one hour fútbol new program Monday-Friday 3-4 PM Pacific time. The broadcast is carried on 970 AM and 103.3 FM and can be heard on the web. If "Listen Live" does not work, click the logo to the left, go to their web site and click either 970 or 103.3. RealOne Format.

The Mexican division of the Terra/Lycos carries selected Mexican League matches and other cup and friendly matches involving League teams. Clicking the logo will bring you to their sports page, when they have a match coming up, there is usually a banner toward the top of the page which will connect you to the live match commentary. Terra also provides a link to Estadio W (or Estadio 590) which seems to be the sucessor to Superdeportivo Radio. When you get to the Terra page, click the Estadio 590 link button (lower right hand side of the web page). You have to enter a 'chat nickname' even if you have no wish to chat, once you do this is will launch the stream of the station. We haven't found a schedule so we can list their matches in advance. It appears they have several matches picked up from local stations every weekend, and cover sports the rest of the day. The audio quality when they connect to remote stations isn't nearly as good as the main Terra feeds.

	RG Radio in Monterey carries home matches for both Tigres and Monterey, usually at 3PM Saturdays. Click 'listen live", then click the speaker icon. Feed uses adobe flash player.

(Home matches of Tigres and Monterey are also broadcast by KYST 920 AM Radio Noticias Houston TX.)

For information about radio and TV in México, including information on which stations stream to the internet, click here to view Fred Cantu's México Radio & TV site

TV Azteca streams México city Channel 13 to the web.  This is the channel which carries most of the soccer telecasts broadcast on the TV Azteca network.  If you have RealOne player installed, you can check it out by clicking Azteca Trece en Vivo. When you get there you will see the same image, click there. Blurry but acceptable. They carry the Protoganista's sports program that was carried for a while on Azteca America. With DSL we ususally get a signal, but it is rather blurry Note: It now costs about $50 per year to subscribe to this service.

Argentina

Nearly all the stations listed here carry the national team matches.

In Argentina it seems the same match can be found on many different stations simultaneously, and there are quite a few outlets that carry little but fútbol. The primary match of the week, the Sunday "Classico", is broadcast by dozens of stations. As the source of much of this information said to me, in Argentina fútbol is a Drug. Because of the way broadcasts are scheduled, I have chosen to organize this section by broadcast outlets rather than by clubs.

It is interesting to note that Argentine stations seem to put more resources into flashy web sites than clear audio, some of the feeds are excellent, some have very poor sound quality, and it is not unusual to connect to a station and hear a silent feed. This problem seems to be improving noticably over time.

Radio Mitre the official outlet for Boca Jrs. Click on the Mitre logo for their live webcast.The official Boca site can be reached by clicking on the club emblem.

Radio Contentental carries numerous fútbol broadcasts, primary River Plate. Including Copa Libertadores matches. Clicking their logo will bring you to a page from which you can launch their RealOne format stream.
Look for

They also offer Podcasts.

:

La Red is run by TyC, the TV outlet that pretty much controls fútbol in Argentina. They have lots of matches, and lots of fútbol discussion, many of the voices you may have heard on the Fox Sports World Español broadcasts from Argentina.

They carry the Friday, Saturday and Monday night matches, one of the early sunday matches and the "clasico" every Sunday afternoon. They also have second division on Saturdays. And they carry the National Team matches. Copa Libertadores matches featuring Racing Club have been heard on La Red.

The station has been streamed for free in the past, but this service seems to have been discontinued. As far as we can tell, their current stream is something they only offer as a premium to people in Argentina who sign up with the affiliated broad band provider "UOL Senectis". We have seen no provisions for attaching to this stream, even for a fee, for people outside the country. If anyone comes across an international stream, please let us know and we will list the information here.

LV3 (Cadena 3) radio from Cordoba, has all the games for Talleres and Belgrano, as well as second division Instituto and other teams. They may pick up the Sunday feed of the "Classico" from Radio Mitre. Click on the "listen live" button to the right to hear their stream. Click on the station logo to go to their web site.

Bolivia

Bolivia.com carries a variety of matches including Copa Libertadores matches featuring teams from Bolivia and some from other nations. Windows Media Format

Brasil

		Brasilian national team matches and other are carried on Radio Globo. Click their logo to the left. Choose one of the following images when you get there:   or possibly These all appear under the heading "Rádios AM / FM (ao vivo)" Globo Rio and CBN often cover live matches featuring the largest four teams in Rio, Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco.
		Other matches featuring teams from Rio can be heard from Super Ràdio Tupi. The stream, in real one format, includes a video picture of their studio.
	The Brasil national federation website is being rebuilt. In the past they did maintain a page of links to live feeds of national team matches, and an archive of past matches. You can go to this site by clicking on the federation logo. The feeds from several stations associated with the organization "UOL" appear only to be available to people who sign up withs the site, although Rádio Jornal may still be available in Windows Media format.

	Radio Gaúcha has aired Copa Libertadores matches featuring Grêmio. RealOne format.

Chile

	Chilean league and national team matches are carried by Radio Cooperativa

	We have heard Copa Libertadores matchs from Radio Chilena Solo Noticias.

Colombia

Colombian National team matches can be hear over Caracol Radio. Click "Listen Live" for RealOne feed. If that doesn't connect you can try clicking the station logo. When you get to the web site select "Audio en Vivo" to the left of the page. It often takes a long time for the audio to begin. Somewhat inconsistent sound quality

Perú

	Radioprogramas del Perú carries National Team matches and Copa Libertadores matches featuring Peruvian teams.. Click "Listen Live" to access feeds in either RealOne or Windows Media formats.
	Peru's national team matches may also be available on Ovacion.. They do carry Copa Libertadores matches featuring Peruvian teams. Windows Media format.

Uruguay

League and international matches from Uruguay are featured on Radio Carve. Click on the Carve logo. Then click on the player you want. Offers Windows Media Player, WinAmp and Quicktimes.

Radio Trece apparently also carries National Team matches. Live web streams distributed from the associated website. RealOne format. You have to sign up to listen.

Paraguay

Matches are regularly streamed from Radio 1 de Marzo in RealOne Format We have heard coverage of Copa Libertadores matches featuring Nacional and Cerro Porteño, they may carry league matches as well.

Ecuador

Match streams are heard from time to time, in RealOne format, from Radio Central and Radio Sonorama (embedded player. It seems these two stations are associated, and may carry the very same commentary. We found Central to be plagued with buzz and other problems, audio from Sonorama is much better.)

Central America

Costa Rica

Honduras

All of the following outlets carry national team matches from time to time. All of the servers have limited capacity, and may fill up quickly, so if you want to hear a match, try to connect early.

Radio America RealOne feed, click on escuchar
Radio HRN RealOne feed click on escuchar la radio/on air
It appears that the site for Radio Reloj, which has carried national team matches in the past, is no longer around.

Panama

Sunset radio historically aired national team and some other matches. Their website is no longer operating.

Guatemala

Red Deportivo carries a variety of matches from Guatemala.

Emisoras Unidas, through a network of various stations, provides full coverage of Guatemala first division & national team.

El Salvador

YSKL, El Salvador carries national team and local league matches
		RealOne Format
		MP3 Format