Sports

The first matches are only hours away, and over the course of the month-long tournament billions (with a “b”) of fans will look to catch some of the action, whether on TV, on the radio, via other assorted media or even on-site. But while most of the world is getting ready for the event, here in the U.S. neither the tournament nor soccer itself have reached mainstream acceptance. However, demographics give reason to believe this might change over time, as younger generations of Americans are showing far more interest in the sport and event alike than their older counterparts.

World Cup fans will be watching the 2014 games across multiple devices, often simultaneously, according to an analysis from Experian Marketing Services. Specifically, World Cup fans are 31 percent more likely than average to watch online video across multiple devices, with 64 percent of adult fans watching online video during a typical week, compared with 49 percent of all adults.

Mike Sievert – Chief Marketing Officer /  T-Mobile

This week, the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil, and we’re helping to bring this awesome global spectacle to your living room – and your phone – in typical Un-carrier style.

The World Cup is an amazing, incredible quadrennial event, and T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan is hands-down the best option for the hundreds of thousands of Americans travelling to the games – with unlimited data and texting and low-cost calls while in Brazil.

Among Hispanic soccer fans, filling the World Cup “sticker album” is a time-honored tradition. ESPN Deportes’ marketing team pays tribute to that ritual in its latest marketing campaign promoting the network’s news and information coverage around the World Cup.

Querying sports enthusiasts from 11 markets – Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States – who have smartphones and plan to follow the tournament, the survey reveals that 48 percent overall plan to use their phones to follow the World Cup, second only to TV (63%) when it comes to media channels for keeping up with the game.

By Gonzalo López Martí @LopezMartiMiami

Dear Mr. Marcelo Claure.
You are a long-time Miami resident.
An accomplished entrepreneur.
It’d be fair to say you are the most successful Hispanic businessman living in the US today.
You amassed one bulky personal fortune and built a global corporate juggernaut from scratch.
Not in real estate like all those big shots driving flashy, second-hand Maseratis around town: you made your money in the highly competitive field of mobile telecommunications.
You employ hundreds of people locally and thousands more across the world.
This community owes you a lot.
You are an example for this town and for Latinos all over the planet.
Question: what’s your exact share & role in the bid to start an MLS franchise in Miami?

ESPN Deportes will provide 24/7 multiplatform Spanish-language news and information coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup from Brazil June 12 – July 13 available across television, radio, online and mobile.

Uniting all its media platforms and properties around the global sporting event that generates the most intense passion in Hispanic fans –the FIFA World Cup–, Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is poised to provide millions of soccer lovers with unparalleled access to the highly awaited tournament this summer through its sports division, Univision Deportes. The FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ takes place between June 12 and July 13, 2014.

Time Warner Cable Deportes announced it will broadcast 16 live Chivas USA matches.  

Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to address a gathering of marketers from the New York financial services community, about optimizing ROI through sports. While my remarks centered largely on best practices in assessing sponsorship impact, I prefaced those perspectives with a brief look at the potential rewards that can be derived from a well-planned and thought-out sports marketing partnership.

Telemundo network announced it acquired the exclusive media rights for the United States of all the home games of the Mexican first division soccer team Pachuca, beginning with the league’s Apertura tournament in June. As “The Official U.S. Network of Pachuca,” Telemundo will have the exclusive Spanish-language rights across all its platforms – broadcast, online and cable – to all of the pre-season, regular season and, if they qualify, the playoff home games of the popular team.  

The 2014 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament may not kick off in Brazil until next month, but viewers are already planning on how they’re going to watch the matches. And based on polling conducted by Instant.ly for YuMe, digital devices are reshaping game viewing.

The FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ kicks off on June 12, 2014; Univision Deportes will provide 24-hour coverage for 31 days across all of its broadcast and digital platforms, including live telecasts and streaming of all 64 matches plus live pre- and post-game commentary and reporting from Brazil’s 12 tournament cities
 

Fútbol de Primera Radio announced that it has acquired the exclusive terrestrial and satellite radio rights in the Spanish language for the 2015 Copa América to be played in Chile from June 11 to July 4th and the 2016 Copa América Centenario to be played June 3-26 of 2016 to commemorate South American Football’s Confederation’s (CONMEBOL) centennial.  This extraordinary tournament to be played across the Unites States will have the participation of all 10 South American countries plus Mexico, the US National Team and four additional Concacaf countries and promises to become the biggest sporting event to be held in the US since the 2002 Winter Olympics.

As excitement—frenzy in many places—starts to whip up as the soccer-loving world converges in Brazil in mid-June for the next World Cup tournament, brands are salivating as always at the branding and marketing opportunity that such a mega-sporting event affords.

Andrés Cantor is on the list of the world’s top legendary soccer commentators published by The FIFA Weekly, the official magazine of FIFA. Cantor is the only US-based, as well as Spanish-speaking commentator, included on the list published by the world’s leading soccer organization.

FOX Deportes announced the addition of renowned Mexican soccer star Luis “El Matador” Hernandez as an analyst to its soccer talk show, La Última Palabra, and as a guest commentator across several of the network’s media platforms.

Tom Maney, industry veteran and Fox Hispanic Media’s Executive Vice President of Advertising Sales, sat down with HispanicAd recently to talk about all things FHM, the current state of U.S. Hispanic media and consumption trends in the marketplace.

Telemundo Sports led all Spanish-language networks in nominations to the 35th Sports Emmy® Awards, according to the announcement made by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).  More than 180 nominees were announced in 39 categories and NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language broadcast network was recognized with six nominations, tying with ABC and outranking its Spanish-language competitors including ESPN Deportes (4) and Univision Deportes (3), as well as general market networks such as TBS, CBS Sports Network and FOX Soccer Channel, among others. The Awards will be given out at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s prestigious Frederick P. Rose Hall, located in the Time Warner Center on Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 in New York City.

The network expands MLB multiplatform offering, increasing TV, Radio and Digital coverage to more than 80 games