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While the long-lasting impacts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup are still unfolding, the rapid growth of Spanish-speaking audiences is easy to see.
Despite the U.S. Women’s National Team exiting the tournament in the knockout rounds—the earliest it has ever departed a World Cup—and powerhouses Canada, Brazil and Germany also getting bounced, the tournament consistently provided solid viewership for Telemundo, which holds to exclusive Spanish-language rights to the FIFA World Cup.
And with newcomers Colombia and Spain becoming the first Spanish-speaking countries to reach the quarterfinals, the event was primed for an increased Spanish-speaking audience.
“The Women’s World Cup exceeded our expectations, and that’s despite the time differences and the challenges presented with the [U.S.] women’s team exiting earlier than expected,” Eli Velazquez, evp of sports at Telemundo, told Adweek. “We did a lot of work in the lead-up to the event where we established that we were going to be aggressive in how we covered it.”
Spain vs. Netherlands earned 968,000 viewers, the most-watched non-USA match in Women’s World Cup history on Spanish-language TV, and the Spain vs. England final on Aug. 20 at 6 a.m. ET was the most-watched non-prime match of the tournament with 401,000 viewers on Telemundo.
“Those particular national teams [Colombia and Spain], the delivery and the performance of both of those squads in this tournament was pretty impressive,” said Velazquez. “The Hispanic audience, the Latino audience is very aspirational, and they look for stories that inspire them, and you couldn’t have asked for a better narrative from both clubs.”
Colombia made it further in the tournament than it ever had before, and Spain went on to win its first World Cup, though the club found itself in crisis after the historic victory, demanding new leadership after years of mistreatment.
“Spain had amazing players, and they had some narrative challenges in their background before getting to the tournament and still managed to win the World Cup,” said Velazquez. “Those stories translate to our audiences in meaningful ways because it demonstrates that with hard work, perseverance, you can accomplish anything. They’re competing at the highest level and showcasing that aspect of their journey to our audiences in ways that people really connect with.”
Throughout the tournament, Telemundo aired 33 matches live on its flagship network, with 31 on Universo and every match streaming live on Peacock. It was the first time the network broadcast all 64 World Cup matches across its properties.
