The season began on January 30 and ended on December 18, with a break in July for the 2011 Copa América.
After a session of the preliminary meeting of the Congress of Professional Football of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (Spanish: Congreso Ordinario del Fútbol Profesional de la Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol), it was determined that the format for the 2011 season will be the same as the previous season.
The second stage (Spanish: Segunda Etapa) began on July 22 and is scheduled to end on December 4.
LDU Quito and El Nacional will play in the third-place playoff for the Ecuador 3 berth in the 2012 Copa Libertadores as the top-two teams non-stage winners in the aggregate table.
By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Deportivo Quito will play the second leg at home.