Andrés Cantor will spend time at both the Women's World Cup and the Copa America this summerGETTY IMAGES
Telemundo plans to televise "more than 20 of the 48 games at this summer’s women’s World Cup on its flagship over-the-air broadcast channel, and nearly 20 more on its cable channel Universo," according to Jonathan Tannenwald of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. The net will have five commentary crews in total, though some on-air talent "will be pulling double-duty calling both the World Cup and the Copa America," which is taking place at the same time. Lead play-by-play announcer Andrés Cantor will "spend chunks of time at each tournament," flying to Paris and Rio de Janeiro as events warrant. He also will spend time at Telemundo's studios in Miami. Telemundo Exec VP/Sports Content Eli Velasquez said that his net "intends to have commentary teams on-site" for as many USWNT games as possible. The hitch at the moment is "not knowing what the U.S.' path through the knockout rounds will be, and whether games will overlap with marquee Copa America contests." Tannenwald notes the easy part for Telemundo is that World Cup games "will be in the morning and early afternoon, and most Copa America games will be in the late afternoon and prime time." The "hard part is when there are big games in both tournaments on the same day" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 3/20).
COPA RUNNING OVER: WORLD SOCCER TALK's Christopher Harris cites a source as saying that ESPN+ has landed the English- and Portuguese-language rights to Copa America in the U.S. The source added that all games "will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+ and not available on TV." Brazil is hosting the event from June 14-July 7. Telemundo Deportes has the Spanish-language rights in the U.S. (WORLDSOCCERTALK.com, 3/20).
