Isiah Pacheco #10 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs for a one-yard touchdown during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona.
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Earlier this month, a well-known musician appeared at a Kansas City Chiefs game as the National Football League continued its attempt to reach new audiences.
But this time it wasn't Taylor Swift cheering on Travis Kelce — as the pop star has done at games in Kansas City, leading to a surge in viewership.
It was Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, known for hits like 'Gasolina' and 'Rompe'. He attended a Monday night football game at Arrowhead Stadium and spent time with Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco. Pacheco, who is of Puerto Rican descent, previously let Daddy Yankee try on his two Super Bowl rings.
The moment came as part of the NFL's “Por La Cultura” campaign, which is in its fourth year and is a key part of the league's efforts to grow its Latino and Hispanic audiences.
The NFL is known for its explosive ratings and is one of the most dominant sports when it comes to viewership on both traditional TV and streaming. A report from Nielsen earlier this week showed that football delivered higher ratings in September.
However, the league still craves further growth, both globally and within the US. A key aspect of that expansion is Hispanic viewership, league and media officials told CNBC.
“I think if you have a successful product, you're kind of tied to your success, right? I mean, there's very little growth that [the NFL] can actually achieve within the mainstream US [English]-speaking population,” said Olek Loewenstein, Global President of Sports at TelevisaUnivision.
He noted that the Hispanic population is “one of the largest, if not the largest, demographic group that is growing and younger in the U.S.”
Critical audience
Marissa Solis, senior vice president of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at the NFL, said she joined the league three years ago to “gain momentum behind our growing audience.” For the NFL, she said, this means three groups: viewers 35 and younger, the majority of whom Solis notes are Latino; women; and Latinos.
“It is mathematically impossible for the league to grow without Latinos,” Solis said. “This audience is critical to our growth. And it's critical to global growth, because there are so many cross-border connections and pride, and fandom transcends borders.”
When it comes to sports in the U.S., the Latin American audience prefers soccer, followed by baseball and boxing, Loewenstein said. The NFL is still working to build its brand in the global market, which is dominated by football and other sports.
“I really think the NFL is one of the sports that can best grow and explode among Hispanics,” Loewenstein said.
Jaire Alexander #23 of the Green Bay Packers runs onto the field with the Brazilian flag before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Arena Corinthians on September 6, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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At the start of the season, the NFL expanded its reach to non-Spanish-speaking Latino audiences, hosting a game in Brazil for the first time as it brings more matchups to international locations. The game was streamed exclusively on Comcast's Peacock and was the second most-watched live event for the streaming platform, behind an NFL postseason game earlier this year.
Solis said about 31 million Latinos in the U.S. considered themselves NFL fans four years ago when the Por La Cultura effort began, and that has since increased to 40 million.
TV in Spanish
While the campaign has focused on themes such as how the Latino community expresses their fandom and the stories of players like Pacheco and New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Solis said expanding Spanish-language broadcasts has been a big help.
The NFL will have more than 75 Spanish-language broadcasts available this season, the league said.
“All these efforts have led to tremendous fandom growth,” she said.
Philadelphia Eagles guard Landon Dickerson #69 and quarterback Tanner McKee #16 take the field during player introductions prior to an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers, at Arena Corinthians on September 6, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Big global's CBS aired this year's Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, but since the network has no Spanish counterpart, it licensed those U.S. and Mexico rights to TelevisaUnivision.
The Super Bowl on TelevisaUnivision's wireless broadcast network broke records, the company said, with an average of 2.3 million viewers across its platforms, the largest audience for the Spanish-language broadcast of a Super Bowl.
Still, it was a small contribution to the 2024 Super Bowl's total of 123.4 million viewers.
“Seventy percent of people who watched the Super Bowl had not seen any other playoff games that year,” said Lowenstein of TelevisaUnivision.
The first Super Bowl to be broadcast in Spanish was in 2015 on cable television network Fox Deportes. In 2022, NBCUniversal's Telemundo broadcast the Super Bowl on an over-the-air broadcast network in Spanish for the first time.
While broadcasting the Super Bowl in Spanish is not part of the NFL's media rights agreements, it has become a major priority as the NFL looks to expand availability, according to the league.
Fans arrive prior to a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles at Arena Corinthians on September 6, 2024 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Pedro Vilela | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
That was underlined earlier this week when Fox Deportes and Telemundo announced that both networks would broadcast the Super Bowl in February. The two networks will provide “the broadest Spanish-language distribution” of the Super Bowl in U.S. history, and the networks will produce separate broadcasts.
Since the 2022 Super Bowl broadcast, Telemundo has experienced “significant growth in our viewership” of the NFL, said Joaquin Duro, executive vice president of sports at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.
Telemundo airs every “Sunday Night Football” game in Spanish on both TV and Peacock. He noted that while the core audience still watches traditional TV, streaming is becoming increasingly important. “This helps us attract younger, more tech-savvy viewers,” Duro said.
Like the NFL, Telemundo Deportes highlights the stories of Spanish players. It has also expanded its coverage of NFL events with an on-site presence at the games and an expanded slate of interviews, Duro added.
“I like the change, the evolution and the expansion of the NFL,” said Rolando Cantú, a former NFL player and analyst for “TNF en Espanol” and Telemundo Deportes' broadcast of “Sunday Night Football.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.