It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since 1966, when the first teams residing outside the Lima and Callao provinces were invited to compete in the inaugural league national competition.

The main sponsors is the sports betting company Te Apuesto, and the Spanish telecommunications brand Movistar.

There are 18 teams in the division of a league that operates on a system of promotion and relegation determined at the end of the season with the Segunda División (Liga 2).

The league is organized by Asociación Deportiva de Fútbol Profesional (English: Professional Football Sport Association) (ADFP).

Conversely, some educational institutions, like Universidad San Marcos would adopt a system of competition among clubs formed of faculty of each its colleges.

In time one faculty team would separate from the university to form their own independent football club, known today as Universitario.

One of these clubs was Sport Alianza—today Alianza Lima—which was founded by Italians and Chinese of the working class of Lima in 1901 although their available records date from around 1912.

[2] After a period of time of random play competition among clubs, the idea of a league and championship status developed.

Those clubs that accepted established the la Liga Peruana de Fútbol (Peruvian Football League); teams from Callao declined the invitation.

For instance, Escuela Militar de Chorrillos withdrew from the tournament in the middle of the season after only have earned 1 point.

[6][7] The league ran uninterrupted for 10 seasons until La Liga Peruana de fútbol temporarily disbanded due to disagreements.

The match was a 1–0 win for Federación Universitaria and began the biggest rivalry in the history of Peruvian football.

At the end of the second stage, Federación Universitaria and Alianza Lima were tied for first place which led to two extra matches between them to declare the 1928 champion.

Deportivo Municipal, another club that would become a traditional team in Peruvian football, won its first championship in 1938 and a second in 1940 whilst Universitario a tallied four titles by winning in 1939 and 1941.

Midway through the 20th century, most of the clubs which had founded La Liga Peruana de fútbol had disappeared from the top flight and five teams had become the dominant forces in Peru; Alianza Lima, Universitario de Deportes, Deportivo Municipal, Sport Boys and Atletico Chalaco.

Universitario de Deportes was the first Peruvian club to compete in the South American continental tournament after winning the 1960 season.

Atlético Grau of Piura, Melgar of Arequipa, Octavio Espinosa of Ica, and Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín of Trujillo were the first four Peruvian clubs from the country interior to be invited to play in the top flight of Peruvian football, expanding it to 14 teams.

The first Copa Perú was played in 1967—prior to the start of the 1967 Descentralizado—returning Alfonso Ugarte de Chiclín and Octavio Espinoza to the top flight in addition to newcomer Juan Aurich of Chiclayo.

In the Torneo Descentralizado's third edition, improvements were made by the teams outside the capital hub, also known as provincianos to denote the clubs originate from the provinces of Peru.

Sporting Cristal won the playoff 2–1 but Juan Aurich, as runner-up, qualified for the Copa Libertadores, being the first provinciano to do so.

The tournament was played with 14 teams, as had been since 1966, however after the first leg of the round robin matchups, the table was split into two parts, with the top 6 fighting for the national title and the bottom 8 avoiding relegation.

Sporting Cristal finished first obtaining their fourth league title, tying Deportivo Municipal's record.

Universitario's participation in the following season's Copa Libertadores would lead to an appearance in the continental finals against Independiente of Argentina, defeating Alianza Lima, Universidad de Chile and Unión San Felipe in the first group stage as well as defending champion Nacional and three-time champion Peñarol in the second group stage.

The winners of the Apertura and Clausura stages will qualify to the playoffs along with the top two teams of the aggregate table at the end of the season.

If the teams are tied in points after the two legs of the final, a third match on neutral ground will be played to decide the national champion.

The Peruvian First Division is currently sponsored by TeApuesto, with the official sponsorship name being ''Liga 1 Te Apuesto''.

In addition, Binacional, Melgar, Juan Aurich, and Unión Huaral are the only clubs outside the metropolitan area of Lima to have won a national championship.

They are followed by archrivals Alianza Lima who competed in the first edition of the Primera División but were relegated in 1938 and returning a year later for an uninterrupted spell since 1940.

[15] The oldest club currently participating in the Primera División is Alianza Lima which was founded at the beginning of the turn of the century in 1901.

There are 28 teams that have taken part in 7 Liga 1 Peru in a split tournament (Apertura and Clausura (2019, 2022-present), Fase 1 and 2 (2020-2021)) and playoff (if win Apertura, Clausura, 3rd and 4th place on aggregate table) that was played from the 2019 season until the 2025 season The teams in bold compete in Peruvian Liga 1 currently.