Streaming Companies Chase Spanish-Language Sports Rights

Streaming platforms are chasing live sports rights to grow their audiences. Increasingly, those audiences are watching in Spanish.

CNBC reports media companies that were already geared toward Hispanic audiences, like TelevisaUnivision and fledgling Canela Media, are bulking up on sports rights and content, while traditional English-language streamers, like NBCUniversal’s Peacock that features Telemundo content, Disney’s ESPN+ and Amazon’s Prime Video are adding simulcast content in Spanish.

It’s an effort to diversify viewership and advertising opportunities — and to capitalize on a growing Hispanic streaming audience.

“Sports is the pinnacle of premium content that can really help a streaming service,” said Shirin Malkani, co-chair of the sports industry group at law firm Perkins Coie. “If you offer it in Spanish as well as English you may not be doubling your audience but you’re certainly growing it by a large percentage. You are reaching an audience I would argue maybe we haven’t done a great job getting sports content to.”

Hispanic audiences spend nearly nine hours per day consuming media, the majority of which is TV viewership, according to a recent study from Nielsen based on viewership habits from July. The study noted the Hispanic audience has been at “the forefront of cord-cutting,” making it a growing majority of streaming viewership, too.

According to the findings, Hispanic viewers spend more than 50% of their time consuming TV through streaming, eclipsing the general population, at nearly 40%.

Traditional media companies across the board have been doling out cash for sports as live games still command the highest traditional TV viewership. These companies are also fighting to make their streaming outlets profitable, with sports representing a key subscriber driver.

Chief among the value drivers is the rising popularity of soccer in the U.S.

Hispanic audiences have long been loyal fans of the sport, which is now gaining steam in American households, helped of late and in part by the arrival of soccer legend Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami.

Disney’s ESPN+ recently bought the rights to Spanish league LaLiga in both languages for an eight-year period.

Leaning into Spanish-language broadcasts allows media companies to not only build up their streaming subscriber bases across various demographics but also opens up new advertising opportunities as ad-based subscription tiers help streaming platforms inch toward profitability.