The Big Lead

How does Univision's sports coverage reflect its evolving audience demographics?

By J.P. Hoornstra

Nov 28, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; President federacion Mexicana de futbol Gilberto Hernandez speaks to the media as (L to R) Soccer United Marketing senior vice president Camilo Durana and Dallas Cowboys vice president Jerry Jones Jr. and FC Dallas chief operating officer Jimmy Smith and Dallas Sports Commission executive director Monica Paul and Univision personality Alejandro Berry look on during the press conference at AT&T Stadium.
Nov 28, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; President federacion Mexicana de futbol Gilberto Hernandez speaks to the media as (L to R) Soccer United Marketing senior vice president Camilo Durana and Dallas Cowboys vice president Jerry Jones Jr. and FC Dallas chief operating officer Jimmy Smith and Dallas Sports Commission executive director Monica Paul and Univision personality Alejandro Berry look on during the press conference at AT&T Stadium. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
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Somewhat lost in the fawning press releases about the television ratings for the 2024 World Series was this nugget: viewership across Univision and Fox Deportes combined for a total of 1.29 million viewers. By TelevisaUnivision’s count, it was the largest Spanish-language audience for a World Series game ever.

Univision on its own accounted for 1.05 million viewers and 364,000 in the adults 18-49 demo. It certainly helped that the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees represented two cities with large Spanish-speaking audiences, making it easy to dismiss the network's ratings success as a one-off phenomenon.

However, the World Series' presence on Univision was reflective of something larger: the network's response to its evolving demographics.

In an interview with Sports Business Journal's Sports Media podcast, TelevisaUnivision Global President of Sports Olek Loewenstein talked about the network's growth strategy as it concerns U.S. sports.

"I think it's very important to diversify, one, in terms of sports," Loewenstein said. "And two because the second and third generation of Hispanics that are coming up and starting to consume more content than before are not only interested in soccer anymore. They're probably college-educated. They're watching football. They're watching baseball. And baseball is a very local sport in that sense.

"Hispanics in New York are very attached to their teams," Loewenstein continued. "Hispanics in L.A. are very attached to their teams, which speaks to the success that we had in the first game of the World Series. We've explored those deals."

Loewenstein added that he is looking forward to the second year of TelevisaUnivision's contract with Major League Baseball in 2025. The coverage plans include a weekly whip-around show (“MLB En Vivo”) featuring live look-ins, highlights and recaps of up to 15 games every Tuesday throughout the regular season. TelevisaUnivision is also producing “MLB Esta Semana," a weekly MLB-focused show airing every Saturday during the regular season in the U.S. and Mexico.

Baseball isn't the only sport for which the network is looking to expand its U.S. offerings, Loewenstein said.

"We're looking to explore them more potentially in basketball, potentially with flag football, potentially in other sports," he told SBJ's Austin Karp. "Our screens will always be available to the sports that are grabbing the attention of Hispanic audiences."

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