Telemundo Deportes

Telemundo Deportes is the programming division of the NBC Sports Group, owned by NBCUniversal, that is responsible for the production of sports events and magazine programs that air on NBCUniversal's Spanish language television networks Telemundo and Universo. Originating as the former's sports division Deportes Telemundo from 1999 to 2015, it broadcasts an array of sports events, including the association football matches from various international football leagues and the Olympic Games, among others.

Telemundo Deportes
NetworkNBC
Launched1987 (1987)
(as Deportes Telemundo)
May 12, 2015 (2015-05-12)
(as NBC Deportes)
July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25)
(as Telemundo Deportes)[1]
Division ofNBC Sports Group
Country of originUnited States
OwnerComcast
Key peopleRay Warren (President, Telemundo Deportes)
Eli Velazquez (executive vice president, Telemundo Deportes)[2]
Robert Pardo (Vice President of Production Operations, Telemundo Deportes)
Claudio Prizont (Editorial Director, Telemundo Deportes)
Christopher Suarez-Meyers (Director of Operations, Telemundo Deportes)
Gary Zenkel (President, NBC Olympics and Operations, Strategy, NBC Sports Group
Mark Lazarus (chairman, NBC Sports Group)
HeadquartersMiami, Florida
Stamford, Connecticut[3]
Major broadcasting contractsFIFA World Cup
FIFA Women's World Cup
Olympics
Premier League
FormatSports programming
Original language(s)Spanish
Official websitewww.telemundodeportes.com/

In order to save money Telemundo Deportes outsources most of its employees from different countries with lower wages mostly Spanish speaking.

History

Origins as Deportes Telemundo
Former logo as Deportes Telemundo, used from 2002 to 2015.

The division was originally formed in 1987 as Deportes Telemundo, which at first exclusively served as the sports division of Telemundo, with the acquisition of rights to football matches to select teams from the Mexican Primera División (now Liga MX). Following NBC's $2.7 billion purchase of Telemundo Communications Group on October 11, 2001, Deportes Telemundo began to gradually be integrated into NBC Sports, although it would maintain sports programming rights separate from the main NBC broadcast network and its sister cable channels.[4] Under NBC (which ironically lost the rights to the league that year to ABC), on August 20, 2002, Telemundo signed a three-year agreement with the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Spanish language broadcast rights to 15 NBA and up to ten WNBA regular season games; Telemundo and the NBA did not renew the deal upon its expiration following the 2004–05 season.[5][6]

On August 12, 2009, the division's production responsibilities were extended to sister cable network mun2 (now NBC Universo), when it carried an English language broadcast of a World Cup qualifier between the United States and Mexico national teams, which was broadcast as part of a one-day free preview available to most cable and satellite providers though was presented by NBC Sports;[7] and furthermore in January 2010, when mun2 began airing Liga MX games under the brand Fútbol Mexicano (most of which aired as English language simulcasts of Telemundo's Fútbol Estelar soccer telecasts).

On October 28, 2012, NBC Sports also announced a three-year, $250 million deal to televise Premier League matches, giving Telemundo and mun2 the Spanish language rights (with the latter simulcasting games broadcast in English on NBCSN) beginning with the 2013–14 season, replacing ESPN and Fox Soccer as the league's U.S. broadcasters;[8] prior to the arrangement, NBC had proposed Telemundo for use as a Spanish-language simulcast partner for select sporting events for years after the 2001 purchase.

On July 23, 2013, NBC Sports announced that Telemundo and mun2 would broadcast both NASCAR's regional and national series in Spanish (to which Fox and NBC held English language rights, with NBC acquiring the rights to the series through a new rights deal with NASCAR), beginning with the 2015 NASCAR season. NASCAR subsequently accelerated the start of the deal, allowing mun2 to carry the Toyota Series, a season-opening Mexican championship race sanctioned by NASCAR, live from Phoenix International Raceway during the weekend of the Profit on CNBC 500 on February 28, 2014.[9][10][11]

On October 22, 2011, Deportes Telemundo acquired the Spanish language rights to broadcast the FIFA Men's and Women's World Cup for around $600 million, replacing Univision as the tournament's Spanish language broadcaster, which began carrying the World Cup tournaments in 1978 (Fox acquired the English language U.S. broadcast rights through a separate agreement). The deal, which began with the 2015 Women's World Cup and runs through 2026, includes rights to associated FIFA-sanctioned tournaments (including the Men's Under 20 and Under 17 World Cups, and the Men's Beach Soccer World Cup), which will be telecast on Telemundo and NBC Universo; the deal was extended on February 12, 2015, to include rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[12][13][14]

Through NBC's rights agreement with the National Football League (NFL), mun2 carried a Spanish simulcast of a Thanksgiving matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers on November 27, 2014; on February 1, 2015, the rebranded NBC Universo served as the Spanish-language broadcaster of Super Bowl XLIX (which NBC held rights to broadcast that year). On January 13, 2015, NBCUniversal promoted Deportes Telemundo senior vice president of sports Eli Velázquez to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Sports within the company's Hispanic Enterprises and Content unit, following the departure of the sports division's executive vice president Jorge Hidalgo (whose position was eliminated as part of restructuring of the division).[2]

Reorganization with NBC Sports

On May 16, 2015, during Telemundo's 2015–16 upfront presentation in New York City, it was announced that Deportes Telemundo would be replaced by a new division initially known as NBC Deportes; the new division was formed as a branch of the English-language NBC Sports division, and be responsible for sports content for Telemundo, NBC Universo and related digital platforms. While it retained all existing sports telecast rights and programs aired by both Telemundo and NBC Universo, the latter network also began to expand its sports coverage, primarily in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the start of the division's contract with FIFA—whose first events included the 2015 U-20 World Cup and Women's World Cup.[15][16][17]

It was announced in August 2015 that the division would migrate its operations from Telemundo's headquarters in Hialeah, Florida, to NBC Sports Group's facility in Stamford, Connecticut, in a phased process that was expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2016. Around 70 employees, including production staff and on-air talent, were given a month to decide if they want to remain with NBC Deportes and relocate to Stamford, providing relocation packages to employees who opt to move and severance packages to employees who chose not to move and are unable to find other jobs within NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprises and Content; most positions within NBC Deportes that were based in the Hialeah offices – with the exception of NBCDeportes.com digital staff, some tech operators employed with the sports unit and production and on-air staff for the late-night magazine program Titulares y Más, which will remain at the Telemundo headquarters – were eliminated in the move, necessitating the employee offers. Around 30 additional staffing positions were expected to be added alongside the existing employees upon the move to Stamford, while the division will invest heavily in the division's infrastructure and sets for its news and analysis programs.[3]

Programs throughout the years

Telemundo Deportes holds the sports broadcast rights to several sporting events (with much of its programming available through agreements with association football leagues and organizations) for broadcast on Telemundo and Universo, and also produces sports news, magazine and analysis programs that mostly air on Telemundo. Telemundo used to produce Rumbo al Mundial with the Conmebol Qualifying Soccer games for the World Cup, this was huge with Spanish speaking audiences but was not repeated for the 2020 World Cup Qualifier in Quatar.

It also produces several specials in conjunction with organizations to which NBC Sports maintains programming agreement such as the National Football League (NFL).

Current broadcast rights

Events which are held by NBC Sports for their English language channels are designated in Italics.

American football
Association football
Futsal
Olympic Games
Other programming
  • Boxeo Telemundo (1987–present)
  • Ritmo Deportivo (2002–present)
  • Rumbo Al Mundial (1987–present)
  • Titulares Telemundo (1999–present)
  • Titulares Y Mas (2008–present)

Former programs
American Football
Association Football
Basketball

Notable personalities

Play-by-play
  • Andrés Cantor
  • Alejandro López
  • Carlos Yustis
  • Copán Alvarez
  • Félix de Jesús
  • Edgar Lopez
  • Omar Amador
  • Sammy Sadovnik
  • Erasmo Provenza

Color commentators/Analysts

Reporters
  • Kaziro Aoyama
  • Miguel Gurwitz

Studio hosts
  • Rosina Grosso
  • Ana Jurka
  • Karim Mendiburu
  • Leti Coo

Studio analysts

References
  1. Kent Gibbons (May 12, 2015). "Upfronts 2015: NBC Deportes Ramps Up". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  2. Veronica Villafañe (January 13, 2015). "Hidalgo out, Velázquez promoted at Telemundo Deportes". Media Moves. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  3. Veronica Villafañe (August 26, 2015). "NBC Deportes moves operations to Stamford". Media Moves. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  4. "NBC speaks Spanish". CNN Money. Time Warner. October 11, 2001. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  5. Eduardo Porter (August 20, 2002). "NBA Strikes Deal to Broadcast Games in Spanish on Telemundo". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  6. John Lombardo (October 10, 2005). "NBA is off the air at Telemundo". Sports Business Journal. Advance Publications. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  7. Mike Reynolds (August 10, 2009). "Mun2 Free Preview Scorecard: 67 Million Homes On Aug. 12". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  8. "NBC wins $250m rights to broadcast English Premier League in US". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Associated Press. October 29, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  9. "NBC wins NASCAR TV rights, signs 10-year deal to replace ESPN, Turner". Sporting News. Sporting News Media. July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  10. "NASCAR and NBC Sports Group Reach Landmark Media Rights Agreement". NBC Sports Group Press Box (Press release). NBC Sports Group. July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  11. "Mexico Series Returns To Phoenix For Opener". NASCAR. February 7, 2014. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  12. Jeré Longman (October 21, 2011). "Fox and Telemundo Win U.S. Rights to World Cups". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  13. Joe Flint (October 22, 2011). "Fox, Telemundo buy TV rights to FIFA World Cup soccer". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  14. Richard Sandomir (February 12, 2015). "Fox and Telemundo to Show World Cup Through 2026 as FIFA Extends Contracts". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  15. Veronica Villafañe (May 13, 2015). "Telemundo Deportes rebrands as NBC Deportes". Media Moves. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  16. Kent Gibbons (May 16, 2015). "Upfronts 2015: NBC Deportes Ramps Up". Multichannel News. NewBay Media. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  17. Cynthia Littleton (November 4, 2014). "Spanish-Language Cabler Mun2 to Relaunch as NBC Universo". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
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