Deportes TV: It's Not Just Soccer Anymore

Editor39s Note Go here to read Part Two of Simon39s series Go here to read Part Three and here to read Part FourIn transportation terms quotdeportesquot sports programming on Spanishlanguage television networks has graduated over the last decade from a onelane highway to a twolane expressway The signposts up ahead suggest both lanes will widen dramatically for 2016 and beyondThat onelane stretch consisting of soccer from the quadrennial World Cup extravaganza next originating from Russia in summer 2018 to regularseason league and team play from all over the globe continues its TV omnipresence Univision and Telemundo along with respective sister services UnimasGalavision and NBC Universo devote much real estate on their schedules to soccer matches So do the roster of 24hour deportes networks such as ESPN Deportes Univision Deportes Fox Deportes and BeIN Sports and allsoccer channel GolTVamp160However whether the channel is all or partly devoted to live sports coverage there39s more live time for US professional league and college action than everquotThe pie is growingquot says Juan Carlos Rodriguez President of Univision Deportes quotThe audience is getting superserved by the landscape We39ve got competition in this arena and so far everyone is growing and succeedingquotIn the latest demonstration of how far and fast the nonsoccer side has grown ESPN Deportes presentedamp160the championship of college football live in January followed by the Super Bowl last month It39s the first time one Spanishlanguage network has offered both events live in the same year within a month of each other Both were watched by more than 500000 viewers according to Nielsen and other rating servicesFox Deportes ran the first live Spanishlanguage Super Bowl two years ago followed by NBC Universo last February 1 In both cases the presentation had an umbilical cord to their Englishlanguage sister broadcast networks Not in this case CBS together with the National Football League looked for an outside player to keep the deportes streak going quotWe were their first callquot ESPN Deportes programming Vice President Freddy Rolon reflects quotThe NFL wanted to continue the fortune they had the last two years They wanted a partner and we made the dealquotIncreasingly adds Eli Velazquez Executive Vice President of Sports at NBC Universal Telemundo Enterprises pro sports enterprises from the NFL to Major League Baseball the National Basketball Association and NASCAR desire a bigger Latino audience to grow their overall fan base and clout quotWe39re at the point where the leagues are identifying the Spanishlanguage opportunitiesquot he says quotThey realize how important the Latino demographic how quickly it39s growing and how crucial this isquotquotThere39s a groundswell rising up from the leaguesquot Rolon notes quotThey are getting smarter about reaching out to our fans Plus all the college conferences are getting smart about attracting Latinosquot That39s something new in their marketing and advertising playbook he addsFor the first time the majority of 2015 postseason playoff games were carried live on a Spanishlanguage network NBC Universo increased its quotSunday Night Footballquot game schedule last year and will soon launch discussions with the NFL on fall 2016 plans ESPN Deportes39 quotMonday Night Footballquot audience increased its viewership from 2014 There are still two regularseason possibilities in play One or more national Sunday afternoon games per weekamp160and the quotThursday Night Footballquot packageamp160that NBC and CBS will share with NFL Network this fall No indications yet whether a Spanishlanguage breakthrough in either situation is forthcomingWhat39s clear is that a variety of other nonsoccer activity will increase their Spanishlanguage presence NBC Universo has multihour coverage of the Summer Olympics from Rio on tap and it appears that for the first time live coverage will take place in primetime Univision Deportes is checking out opportunities with alternativeextreme sports events along with auto racing to supplement an extensive Formula One schedule At ESPN Deportes Rolon wants to increase college football coverage to include Saturday games from several key conferences on a weekly basis and more postseason bowl games His network did all of the quotNew Year39s Sixquot games three each on New Year39s Eve and New Year39s Day for the first timeAnyone who believes soccer will step out of this limelight as other options bloom is in for a comeuppance More games are on everyone39s agenda quotWe39re expanding to satisfy appetites and stay in a leadership positionquot Rodriquez declares With Univision39s decadeslasting World Cup coverage moving to NBC UniversoTelemundo in two years the big nearterm attraction is Copa America Centenario the 100th anniversary of a soccer tournament mainstay usually involving South American teams For the first time the tournament will be played in the United States at 10 NFL stadiums and the US39 own national soccer team could participate Univision Deportes will carry eight hours of live Copa America programming each day from June 1327 with the games divided among Rodriguez39s channel Univision Unimas and GalavisionNBC Universo and Telemundo will present multileague games and tournaments throughout 2016 en route to World Cup qualifying matches and the big event itself Several tournaments from World Cup organizer FIFA were presented last year via both channels including the Women39s World Cup and beach soccer championship quotIt39s a trial by firequot to take over one of the planet39s biggest sports cavalcades after a long run elsewhere Velazquez admits quotIt39s no secret we39re treating this as a transformational event for the entire companyquotStateside both Univision Deportes and ESPN Deportesamp160plan to increase their Major Soccer League coverage during 2016 while exploring game rights from countries worldwide Look for efforts to offer more women39s socceramp160in the wake of the US team39s World Cup victory last summerFor Rodriguez the widening of both Spanishlanguage sports lanes should be joined by a redoubling of effort to land more national advertising support quotWe all need to collectively push the case that sponsors will have to be on board so they stay relevant among this audiencequot he says quotYes we39re competitors but it39s important for us as a group to alert advertisers that it39s not a matter of how you want to reach us but when you want to do itquotThat matter of when Rodriguez and his contemporaries clarify is a matter of now or very soonUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Deportes TV: It's Not Just Soccer Anymore

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