The NFL’s focus on reaching Spanish-language viewers where they are took another step on Monday.
Fox Deportes and Telemundo announced an agreement that will see Super Bowl LIX air on both networks. The partnership will create what the networks are calling the “broadest Spanish-language distribution in the United States for any Super Bowl in history.”
Fox, who owns the exclusive television rights to Super Bowl LIX, has aired the big game for Spanish-language viewers on Fox Deportes every year the network has had the rights since 2015. However, the reach of Fox Deportes, a niche cable channel often placed in the highest tiers of pay-TV packages, is substantially smaller than that of NBCUniversal’s Telemundo, which is available on free over-the-air broadcast television.
The increased distribution will allow Fox to keep pace with the record-setting Spanish-language viewership that last year’s Super Bowl broadcast garnered. CBS struck a similar deal with Univision for Super Bowl LVIII that chipped in an audience of 2.3 million to its overall viewership total. Telemundo drew 1.9 million viewers the last time NBC had the rights in 2022. While that’s not huge by Super Bowl standards, every little bit helps. And there’s nothing that network PR teams love more than touting a Super Bowl viewership record.
Per reports, the two networks will produce separate broadcasts of the game. Telemundo produces a Spanish-language broadcast of NBC’s Sunday Night Football each week during the regular season and has its own established talent that will likely participate in its Super Bowl coverage. Fox Deportes has a pared-down regular season slate consisting of only four games, including a Thanksgiving Day tilt between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys this season.
The partnership between Fox and NBC may seem strange on paper, but the relationship will be financial beneficial to both networks.
Per a report in Variety on Monday, Telemundo will have the ability to sell local and regional advertisements over the game broadcast, while Fox will retain control of national commercial inventory. That means Fox can sell advertisers on having a larger audience that includes Spanish-language viewers, while Telemundo can take advantage of the handful of local spots available during the broadcast.
With the announcement of the new deal, Telemundo will now broadcast the next two Super Bowls as the rotation moves to NBC for next season. Detailed programming plans for this year’s contest from both Fox Deportes and Telemundo will be revealed in the lead-up to the game.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.