Telemundo Deportes

• 1. Introduction

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  Telemundo Deportes is the sports programming division of Telemundo, and for tens of millions of Spanish-speaking viewers across the United States, it is the place where the World Cup lives. When Univision lost its grip on the FIFA World Cup in 2015 after holding it since 1970, the contract that replaced it was worth around $600 million. That deal, secured by what was then called Deportes Telemundo, would reshape Spanish-language sports television in America. How did a sports unit that started in 1987 by acquiring Mexican soccer rights grow into a network carrying NFL Super Bowls, Premier League matches, and Olympic Games? And what did it take to uproot that operation, reorganize it under NBC Sports, and give it an entirely new identity?

• 2. Mexican Soccer and the Early Years

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  In 1987, Telemundo formed its sports division under the name Deportes Telemundo, and its first major move was acquiring broadcast rights to soccer matches featuring select teams from the Mexican Primera División, now known as Liga MX. That choice of subject matter was deliberate. Mexican club soccer commanded a passionate Spanish-speaking audience in the United States, and Deportes Telemundo built its early identity around delivering it. The division also launched Boxeo Telemundo that same year, a boxing franchise that continues to air today. The long-running magazine program Rumbo Al Mundial, also dating to 1987, became a fixture for audiences following the road to each World Cup. These programs gave the division a stable foundation before larger rights agreements reshaped its ambitions.

• 3. The NBC Acquisition and New Partnerships

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  NBC's purchase of Telemundo Communications Group on the 11th of October, 2001, for $2.7 billion brought the sports division into the orbit of one of American broadcasting's largest companies. Deportes Telemundo was gradually integrated into NBC Sports while keeping its programming rights separate from NBC's main broadcast network and cable channels. On the 20th of August, 2002, Telemundo signed a three-year agreement with the NBA for Spanish-language rights to 15 NBA games and up to ten WNBA regular season games per year. That deal covered the 2003 through 2005 seasons before both parties let it lapse. The NBA relationship would not resume until 2025. On the 28th of October, 2012, NBC Sports announced a three-year, $250 million deal to televise Premier League matches, giving Telemundo and mun2 the Spanish-language rights starting with the 2013-14 season. That arrangement replaced ESPN and Fox Soccer as the league's U.S. broadcasters.

• 4. Capturing the World Cup

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  On the 22nd of October, 2011, Deportes Telemundo secured one of the most significant rights agreements in Spanish-language television history. For around $600 million, the division acquired Spanish-language broadcast rights to FIFA tournaments beginning in 2015, ending Univision's hold on the World Cup, which stretched back to 1970. Fox separately acquired the English-language U.S. broadcast rights through a different agreement. The FIFA contract was extended on the 12th of February, 2015, to cover the 2018, 2022, and 2026 World Cups. The first events under the new deal included the 2015 U-20 World Cup and the 2015 Women's World Cup. NBC Universo, which began expanding its sports coverage in part to prepare for the 2016 Summer Olympics and these FIFA events, carried many of the early matches under the new arrangement.

• 5. Reorganization and a New Name

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  On the 16th of May, 2015, during Telemundo's 2015-16 upfront presentation in New York City, NBCUniversal announced that Deportes Telemundo would be dissolved and replaced by a new entity initially called NBC Deportes. That new division was structured as a branch of the English-language NBC Sports operation. Alongside the reorganization, NBC announced plans to move the division's operations from Telemundo's headquarters in Hialeah, Florida, to NBC Sports Group's facility in Stamford, Connecticut. Around 70 employees, including production staff and on-air talent, were given a month to decide whether to relocate. The company offered relocation packages to those who agreed to move and severance packages to those who declined. The announced move was cancelled in November 2015. The division then changed its name from NBC Deportes to Telemundo Deportes in 2016, and in April 2018 it moved into the newly opened Telemundo Center in Miami.

• 6. On-Air Talent and Broadcast Reach

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  Andrés Cantor serves as the lead play-by-play voice for Telemundo Deportes, heading a roster of commentators that includes color analysts such as Tab Ramos and Greivis Vásquez. The division's broadcasts air across Telemundo, NBC Universo, TeleXitos, and the streaming service Peacock. Beyond soccer, Telemundo Deportes produces NFL content through NBC's rights agreement with the league. NBC Universo carried a Spanish-language simulcast of the Thanksgiving matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers on the 27th of November, 2014, and on the 1st of February, 2015, it broadcast Super Bowl XLIX. The division also airs Summer Olympic Games, with coverage dating to 2004 and extending under current agreements through 2032. For the 2025 Fox-held Super Bowl LIX, Telemundo Deportes held the Spanish-language broadcast rights under a sublicensing arrangement.