■ Univision
The dominant player in Hispanic media launched a 24-hour sports network in April. While not yet available on Time Warner, Comcast or DirecTV, the channel will make a strong push for broader distribution behind a heavy rotation of Mexican soccer.
On the air: Mexican soccer, featuring both the national team and Liga Mx games. A licensing deal with Mexican TV giant Televisa allows Univision to import popular content.
■ Telemundo
Even before wresting the 2018 and 2022 World Cups from Univision, the Comcast-owned network was firmly the second-most-watched home for Spanish-language sports in the U.S., in part because of its broad over-the-air distribution.
On the air: Liga Mx soccer, including team Chivas through 2012; Mexican national team road games; Olympics; boxing.
■ Fox Deportes
The No. 1-rated sports network on Spanish cable, Fox Deportes airs Liga Mx soccer and the two premier soccer tournaments in South America. Increasingly, it has focused more on acculturated, bilingual Hispanics, increasing Spanish-language telecasts of its general market properties. Last month’s launch of MundoFox on broadcast TV could offer larger and broader viewership for the network’s sports offerings.
On the air: Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, the two premier club soccer tournaments in South America; Liga Mx soccer; English Premier League soccer; MLB; Formula One; NASCAR; college football.
■ ESPN Deportes
You don’t operate in Spanish TV without Mexican soccer, and ESPN has some, with both live games and studio shows. But ESPN approaches the Hispanic landscape far more broadly than Univision, focusing on soccer from outside of Mexico and including more sports, including winter league baseball.
On the air: Soccer, including Liga Mx, Copa Mx, English Premier League, World Cup qualifying and friendlies; Brazilian Paulista and Brasilerio; Europa League; German Bundesliga and Dutch Eredivisie. Also Caribbean Series baseball, the NFL, NBA, MLB and boxing.
■ BeIN Sport
Launched by Al Jazeera last month, the network has shown that it will spend robustly on soccer, blowing its competitors out of the water for U.S. rights to the pre-eminent leagues of Spain, Italy and France. Because it broadcasts in both English and Spanish, its seemingly boundless budget could cause headaches for other networks.
On the air: La Liga; Serie A; Ligue 1; some World Cup qualifiers and friendlies.
