“It’s this newness that’s coming out of North America that I think ultimately will bring the excitement for 2026,” Valadez said. “We need to connect with the Latin American, where the power of tradition meets newness and innovation, and that’s very American in and of itself.”
Of the roughly 12.4 million viewers who watched the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, 6.35 million favored the Spanish-language broadcast on TelevisaUnivision platforms. That follows a 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar where an estimated 9 million viewers tuned in to the Spanish-language broadcasts on Telemundo and Peacock for the final between Argentina and France.
Though 65% of non-Hispanic fans prefer to watch games in Spanish, marketing agency BODEN found closer ties to soccer within the U.S. Hispanic community. Not only do 73% of U.S. Latinos aged 16 and older identify as soccer fans, according to BODEN, but they often describe themselves as being “born into it.”
That’s an especially important distinction with the approaching North American World Cup. Among those fans, 64% view the World Cup as a holiday and rank it second only to Christmas in importance.
“The marketer looks at it and says, ‘With Leagues Cup, it helps me because it’s a unique summer window, but it’s every single year, and I can plan on having something that’s a tentpole on my marketing calendar every single summer across more than 30 markets in North America,’” said Carter Ladd, chief revenue officer of Major League Soccer and Soccer United Marketing. “And I know that I’m going to reach MLS fans. I know that I’m going to read acculturated and acculturated Hispanic soccer fans via Liga MX.’”
Leagues of lessons
Leagues Cup learned from last year’s installment as it attempted to connect with North American audiences. This time around, it incorporated listening to consumer research, brand briefings and creative reviews and even airing its anthem on Univision during the Supercopa de la Liga MX in June.
On July 4, the Leagues Cup aired the anthem during the El Tráfico MLS rivalry match between LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC. Valadez credited Leagues Cup’s Garcia for the change, saying that she took a step back and considered the element that would make people aware of the tournament and distinguish it from other soccer events during the summer’s busy calendar that also included Copa América, the European Championship and the Olympics.