Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Slovenian Second League (2.

SNL) was established after Slovenia's independence in 1991 and initially consisted of 21 clubs in the inaugural season.

Olimpija, Maribor, and Nafta were the only Slovenian teams to play in the Yugoslav top division between 1945 and the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991.

[2][3] As of 2024, Celje and Maribor remain the only two founding clubs that have never been relegated from the league since the inaugural 1991–92 edition.

[1] They had a long tradition of playing in the Yugoslav First League and their squad was still composed of players from that era.

[1] This started a record-breaking streak of seven successive league championships which came to an end when Gorica won their second title in the 2003–04 season.

[1] Starting with the 2008–09 season, Maribor became the major force in Slovenian football for the second time, having won 9 out of 16 championships since then, including five consecutive titles from 2011 to 2015.

[1] Seven of Maribor's titles came during the late 1990s and early 2000s when the club was led alternately by managers Bojan Prašnikar, Ivo Šušak and Matjaž Kek.

Between 1993 and 1995, a regular double round-robin format with 16 clubs was used, before being replaced with the current ten-club system for three seasons until 1998.

The current trophy is being presented since the 2012–13 season and was designed by Mirko Bratuša, a sculptor from Negova.

Between 1996 and 1999, they were presented by Ekipa, and since 2004, the awards have been organized by the Union of Professional Football Players of Slovenia (SPINS).

[45][46] With the start of the 2019–20 season, one match per week is also broadcast on local Sportklub channels in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.