| Competition: | Liga Profesional de Primera División |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Peñarol (47th title) |
| Relegated: | Bella Vista Progreso Central Español |
| Continentalcup1: | 2014 Copa Libertadores |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Peñarol Defensor Sporting Nacional |
| Continentalcup2: | 2013 Copa Sudamericana |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Peñarol River Plate El Tanque Sisley Montevideo Wanderers |
| Matches: | 240 |
| Total Goals: | 629 |
| League Topscorer: | Juan Manuel Olivera (18 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Nacional 2–0 Cerro Largo (September 9, 2012) Defensor Sporting 2–0 Liverpool (September 15, 2012) Cerro 2–0 Juventud |
| Highest Scoring: | Fénix 4–3 Peñarol (August 26, 2012) |
| Longest Wins: | 2 games: Defensor Sporting Fénix Nacional Progreso |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 3 games: Defensor Sporting El Tanque Sisley Liverpool Nacional Progreso |
| Longest Winless: | 3 games: Central Español Cerro Largo Danubio Racing |
| Longest Losses: | 3 games: Central Español |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
The 2012–13 Liga Profesional de Primera División season, also known as the 2012–13 Copa Uruguaya or the 2012–13 Campeonato Uruguayo, was the 109th season of Uruguay's top-flight football league, and the 82nd in which it was professional. Nacional was the defending champion.
Sixteen teams will compete in the Primera División this season. Thirteen teams remained from the 2011–12 season. Rentistas, Rampla Juniors, and Cerrito were relegated after accumulating the fewest points in the relegation table. They were replaced by Central Español, Juventud, and Progreso, the 2011–12 Segunda División winner, runner-up, and playoff winner, respectively. All of the new teams are making repeat appearances.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Replaced by | Date of appointment | Position in table |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-season changes | ||||||
| Bella Vista | Diego Alonso | End of Contract | June 8, 2012[1] | Guillermo Sanguinetti | June 16, 2012[2] | N/A |
| Nacional | Marcelo Gallardo | End of contract | June 18, 2012[3] | Gustavo Díaz | June 28, 2012[4] | N/A |
| Fénix | Lorenzo Carrabs (interim) | Sacked | June 21, 2012[5] | July 9, 2012[6] | N/A | |
| Defensor Sporting | Gustavo Díaz | Signed by Nacional | June 23, 2012[7] | Tabaré Silva | June 27, 2012[8] | N/A |
| Cerro | Gabriel Camacho (interim) | Sacked | July 6, 2012[9] | Ricardo Ortíz | July 6, 2012 | N/A |
| Season changes | ||||||
| Danubio | Daniel Sánchez | Sacked | September 5, 2012[10] | Juan Ramón Carrasco | September 17, 2012[11] | 15th |
| Rank | Player | Nationality | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center rowspan=4 | 1 | Leonardo Carboni |  Argentina | Danubio | 3 |
| Mauro Guevgeozian | Fénix | 3 | |||
| Juan Manuel Olivera | Peñarol | 3 | |||
| Maxi Rodríguez | Montevideo Wanderers | 3 | |||
| align=center rowspan=9 | 5 | Gonzalo Bueno | Nacional | 2 | |
| Fabián Cannobio | Progreso | 2 | |||
| Anibal Hernández | Defensor Sporting | 2 | |||
| Adrián Luna | Nacional | 2 | |||
| Alejandro Mello | El Tanque Sisley | 2 | |||
| Hernán Novick | Fénix | 2 | |||
| Federico Puppo | Defensor Sporting | 2 | |||
| Liber Quiñones | Racing | 2 | |||
| Jorge Zambrana | Peñarol | 2 | |||
Updated as of games played on September 9, 2012.
Source:
Peñarol and Defensor Sporting qualified to the championship playoffs as the Apertura and Clausura winners, respectively. Additionally, Peñarol re-qualified as the team with the most points in the season aggregate table. Given this situation, an initial playoff was held between the two teams. Peñarol would become the season champion with a win; Defensor Sporting needed to win the playoff to force a two-legged final.