Telemundo, Peacock Announce Deal to Become Spanish-Language Home of U.S. Soccer
Peacock is about to expand its live sports offerings even further. NBCUniversal has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the U.S. Soccer Federation to bring Spanish-language broadcasts of U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team games to Peacock.
The new agreement will feature more than 20 U.S. National Team matches each year across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and Telemundo’s digital platforms, consisting of National Team friendlies (including premium U.S. matches against Mexico), the SheBelieves Cup, and other key events involving the Women’s and Men’s National Soccer Teams, such as select CONCACAF Nations League 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 deal will include and culminate with coverage of special events during Send-Off matches and leading up to, during and following the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosting duties of which will be shared by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Holding the rights to broadcast the crown jewels of world soccer - the FIFA World Cups for men and women as well the Olympic Games – Peacock is uniquely positioned to showcase U.S. Soccer’s athletes when the eyes of the world will be on them.
“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,” NBCUniversal’s Beau 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.”
The deal could bring about a windfall of new subscribers for Peacock. The service and its app saw a surge of downloads during the 2022 Men's World Cup, becoming the No. 1 entertainment app downloaded in the Apple App Store in that time. Peacock held only the Spanish-language rights to World Cup matches, as English broadcast rights currently reside with FOX, which demonstrates there’s high demand for U.S. soccer matches on Peacock in Spanish.
The agreement between U.S. Soccer and NBCUniversal is highly similar to the deal the soccer federation has with Warner Bros. Discovery. That deal also includes the rights to over 20 matches per year, and will feature both the Men’s and Women’s National Teams. WBD is also using its streaming services as a home for games, as HBO Max’s first-ever live event will be the friendly between the USWNT and New Zealand on Tuesday, Jan. 1.
The key difference between NBCU’s and WBD’s deal with U.S. Soccer is that WBD’s deal covers English-language broadcasts. That means that HBO Max will not be allowed to air World Cup matches, as Peacock is currently able to do.
The success of Spanish-language World Cup broadcasts helped Peacock double its paid subscriber base in 2022. With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup coming this summer, Peacock is in a position to reap even more rewards thanks to its new deal with the U.S. Soccer Federation.
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