Univision's Big Bet: Copa America Centenario

Univision has made a big bet holding exclusive Spanishlanguage multiplatform rights to the tournament featuring CONMEBOL South America and CONCACAF North and Central America teams including Argentina Brazil Mexico and the USamp160 Fox is the Englishlanguage rightsholderKicking off with the US versus Colombia on June 3 the 32match tourney unfolds in 10 US cities with the championship contest at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ on June 26 Along with Euro 2016 amp8211 ESPN airs Europeamp8217s top national team tourney in JuneJuly amp8211 Copa America Centenario is the big event on the international soccer calendar this yearRodriguez who said Euro 2016 will serve as on amp8220opening actamp8221 to Copa America Centenario raised the ante further noting that with its focus on nations with strong followings among Univisionamp8217s Latino viewers and primetime windows it will outperform the 2014 FIFA World Cup from Brazil which averaged 35 million viewers per match for Univision networksamp8220Copa America Centenario is a smaller tournament with fewer teams but the expectation is that it will generate higher ratings than the World Cup averageamp8221 he saidamp8220We already have 25 blue chip advertisers signed onamp8221 said UCI President of Advertising Sales and Marketing Keith Turner amp8220Leading the way are big advertisers in beer telecommunications insurance studios and electronicsamp8221Matches will appear on the flagship Univision network and UniMas Rodriguez is taking a page out of the 2014 World Cup playbook turning Univision Deportes Network UDN with its 50 million subscribers into a de facto 247 Copa America Centenario channel featuring matches encores highlights news and analysisTurner said that in 2015 UDN grew its advertiser base by close to 40 amp8220a staggering number for a network that is just four years oldamp8221Copa America Centenario is just part of a widespread futbol fare that Rodriguez said makes Univision amp8220the premium destination for soccer in the US in terms of rights ratings and audience We have more and better soccer than anybody elseamp8221It holds rights to Mexican and US national teams amp8211 more than ESPN and Fox Sports 1 combined and the Gold Cup in 2017Univision also airs Major League Soccer matches with an exclusive Friday night package with an English SAP feed that has provided a viewership assist as Anglos represent 10 of audience on its linear and streaming presentationsHowever itamp8217s Univision Deportesamp8217 position south of the border that truly gives it a leg up Despite the buzz surrounding NBC Sports Groupamp8217s coverage of the English Premier League Liga MX Mexicoamp8217s top division is the amp8220mostwatched league regardless of network and language in the US The quality of competition is reflected in ratingsamp8221 Rodriguez explained Univision Deportes tallied a 7 gain to an average of 349000 adults 18 to 49 in 2015The company is looking to build on the circuitamp8217s strength via its second revamped amp8220Campeon de Campeonesamp8221 a competition matching the winners of Liga MXamp8217s Apertura and Clausura seasons and the Copa MX winners that will be held in Los Angelesamp160 The event will also include an awards ceremony and concert among other activities which will be detailed at the Upfrontamp8220We believe this is going to be a tentpole event for years to come during the second weekend of Julyamp8221 said RodriguezUnivisionamp8217s soccer holdings extend beyond western hemisphere Already airing action from Portuguese and Dutch leagues Rodriguez in January fulfilled part of a mandate to increase Univision Deportesamp8217 weekday roster by netting a multiplatform US rights deal with UEFA Europeanamp8217s governing body for the sport to Euro 2020 and qualifying matches ahead of that tourney plus qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup It also encompasses UEFA Nations League and UEFA Nations League Final Four new events involving the 54country associations that provide new competitive fire to what were formerly amp8220friendliesamp8221Univision has yet to take the package to market but attendees at its Upfront event should hear about the expansive offeringUnivision which was outbid for FIFA World Cup rights by Telemundo is not done soccer shopping yet The next rights cycle of the Champions League UEFA39s leading club competition should come into play later this year and Rodriguez said Univision will be on the pitch Fox and Fox Deportes hold them through 201718As to US pro leagues Univision Deportes is in step with NBA Hispanics represent 18 of the leagueamp8217s fan base delivering weekly magazine shows andamp160 relaunched web and mobile sites Univision has begun presenting Arena Football League games but wants to extend its relationship beyond digital with the NFLIn the meantime Univision is gearing up for amp8220United We Stand Together We Growamp8221 upfront at The Lyric Theatre in Manhattan Turner said that theme amp8220really sums up how we are going to market highlighting Univisionamp8217s core differentiators young and influential viewers massive unduplicated reach and a commitment to serving the needs of our multicultural viewers bilinguals Millennials diehard novela devotees sports fans political and news junkies or just lovers of entertaining multiplatform contentamp8221The 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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Univision's Big Bet: Copa America Centenario

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