Telemundo will become the exclusive Spanish-language home to U.S. national soccer team matches, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation announced Tuesday in a multimedia rights agreement.
On the heels of a record-breaking presentation of the World Cup Qatar 2022, Telemundo will now feature all U.S. soccer men and women’s national team friendlies and other high-profile matches, all of which will be available to stream on Peacock. The deal also transfers exclusive rights to live event coverage and the opportunity to create ancillary programming to Telemundo.
With Telemundo holding the broadcast rights to the FIFA World Cups for men and women as well the Olympic Games, the deal will include coverage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is slated to be co-hosted between Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Soccer Hall of Famer Andres Cantor will lead game commentary with play-by-play coverage alongside former Mexican National Team player Manuel Sol as analyst. Miguel Gurwitz, Ana Jurka and Carlota Vizmanos will take the reins on pre-game and post-game coverage.
“Building off the momentum of a historic World Cup 2022, we are proud to partner with the U.S. Soccer Federation and become the new exclusive Spanish-language home of Team USA,” Chairman of NBCUniversal Enterprises Beau Ferrari said. “The U.S. National Teams will be a cornerstone of our portfolio of premier sports franchises, multiplatform live sports offering and new IP content creation. We look forward to together propelling the growth of soccer in the United States and serving our audiences across all platforms, as we build toward the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 and FIFA Men’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.”
Of the over 20 matches per year that will be featured across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock, major events involving the Women’s and Men’s National Soccer Teams, including U.S. matches against Mexico, the SheBelieves Cup and select CONCACAF Nations League matches, will be presented, among other notable matches.
“We’re incredibly excited to begin our partnership with Telemundo as we continue to bring the passion of our sport and National Teams to Spanish-speaking audiences,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone said. “It’s a special time for soccer in the United States, and Telemundo’s commitment to double-down and amplify the sports growth through their unparalleled portfolio of platforms serves as an incredible foundation of the partnership. With Telemundo as the rights holder of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Olympic Games, and the Premier League, there will be prominent opportunities to highlight our players and teams to bring unprecedented access to fans during marquee moments.”
The partnership will go into effect in 2023 with the U.S. Women’s international friendly matches against New Zealand on Tuesday, Jan. 17 and Friday, Jan. 20, which will air live at 10:05 p.m. Eastern on Universo and streaming on Peacock and the Telemundo app, and will be followed up with matches featuring the U.S. Men’s team against Serbia and Colombia next week in Los Angeles.
“We are uniquely positioned to offer the most complete Spanish-language coverage of our U.S. National Teams and their road to the biggest soccer tournaments in the world with the quality production and authenticity only we can deliver,” said Eli Velazquez, Executive Vice-President of Sports at Telemundo. “We are thrilled to partner with U.S. Soccer and leverage our world-class commentary team led by Andres Cantor to further elevate the fandom for our National Teams among Latinos across every screen.”