The 2016–17 season in Primera División de Nicaragua will be divided into two tournaments (Apertura and Clausura) and will determine the 69th and 70th champions in the history of the league. The Apertura tournament will be played in the second half of 2016, while the Clausura will be played in the first half of 2017.
Format
The Apertura play-off format was changed from previous years, while the Clausura will use the same 4-team play-off format. For the Apertura, the top four teams from the regular stage advanced to a "quadrangular" double-round robin instead of a play-off stage. The regular stage and quadrangular winners would have played to decide the tournament's champion, but ultimately the same team won both and the final was not necessary. The same format was recently adopted by the Costa Rican Primera División, but for both half season.
Teams
A total of 10 teams will contest the league, including 8 sides from the 2015–16 season and one sids directly promoted from the 2015–16 Segunda division. The final participant will be determined in a two-legged play-off, in which the 9th placed Primera division side ART Jalapa will play the team who finished second in Segunda division which was Sebaco. Sebaco won 4-3 on aggregate over ART Jalapa which meant they were promoted in the Primera Division.
Updated to match(es) played on 04 December 2016. Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
As the winners of both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, Real Estelí were declared the season champions without a playoff. It is their 14th league title.
Relegation to 2017-2018 Segunda División de Fútbol de Nicaragua
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2017. Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored. (C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Relegation playoff
The ninth place team in the aggregate table, Sebaco, played a two-leg playoff against the second place team from the Segunda División de Nicaragua, San Francisco, for one spot in next season's Primera División.