The Majority of Hispanic Sports Fans say they would try, buy, or recommend a brand

Telemundo Deportes, in an exclusive partnership with Turnkey Intelligence – MarketCast, today released a brand study that evaluates the latest trends, popularity, and perception of sports among Hispanic fans. The study confirms that Hispanic sports fans continue to be a driving force in the consumption of live sports programming and have strong recall and affinity for sponsors associated with the sports they follow.

In general, Hispanic fans show 15% higher propensity to support sponsors than non-Hispanics, by trying, buying, or recommending a product or service, according to the Telemundo Deportes study. Furthermore, Hispanic sports fans who consume Spanish-language media display an even higher propensity to support sponsors with 57% of them stating that they would try, buy, or recommend a product or service — a 22% lift over non-Hispanics.

“Our research validates that Hispanics continue to be a driving segment for brands investing in sports today,” said Lia Silkworth, senior vice president, Strategy & Insights, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “Tapping into their passion for soccer and other sports, in their preferred language, is a great way not only for us to continue defining how to authentically present content to our viewers but also for brands to connect with this growing audience and generate growth opportunities and consumer loyalty.”

Additionally, Hispanic sports fans demonstrate greater recall of brands associated with high profile sports events, such as the World Series, FIFA World Cup, and Super Bowl. For example, 21% of Hispanics unaidedly recalled Pepsi as a Super Bowl sponsor, compared to 16% among their non-Hispanic counterparts.

“Hispanic sports fans are proving to be a powerful audience for advertisers and brands looking to drive real engagement and measurable results from their sponsorships and media spend,” said Haynes Hendrickson, president of Turnkey Intelligence – MarketCast. “Our data suggests that Spanish-language fans’ passion for soccer and other major sports carries over to the brands and sponsors that associate themselves with the leagues, teams, and events fans love.”

The social nature and benefits of consuming sports programming among Hispanics are undeniable. The study reveals that Hispanics on average watch 12 hours of sports programming weekly, 50% more than non-Hispanics.

Among Hispanics, soccer events were generally deemed to be more culturally relevant. A third of Hispanics felt soccer events were important to the Latino community — roughly double those who felt the same way about non-soccer events. The FIFA Men’s World Cup was considered the most culturally relevant event for the Hispanic community, with 43% of Hispanics stating that.

Throughout the report, the data consistently shows that the Hispanic consumer segment significantly over-indexes against non-Hispanics on soccer-related engagement metrics. Nonetheless, some of these trends extend beyond soccer. Nine out of ten Hispanic sports fans consider themselves fans of traditional American sports like football, baseball, and basketball, rounding up the four most popular sports among Hispanics. Boxing is also a sport with disproportionately high popularity among Hispanics — with 66% more likely than non-Hispanics to say they are very passionate about boxing.

Other highlights of the study include:

  1.     Over three-quarters of Spanish-language media consumers consider FIFA Men’s World Cup a “can’t miss event.”
  2.     In Telemundo’s short history of airing top soccer events (Men’s World Cup once and Women’s World Cup twice), it has quickly become the network that Hispanic sports fans recall most for airing these large competitions.
  3.     81% of Hispanic sports fans watch sports on television, predominantly at home, and were somewhat less likely than non-Hispanic fans to follow sports elsewhere (e.g., streaming services, online news, or social media).

Commissioned by Telemundo Deportes, the Turnkey Intelligence – MarketCast study was conducted in collaboration with the Sports Business Journal. It focused on understanding Hispanic sports fans and evaluating the popularity of global sporting events in the U.S. in contrast to non-Hispanic fans, including attitudes and perceptions, sponsor affinity, and sponsor recall. The findings are based on online and face-to-face interviews fielded between July 25 and August 12, 2019, targeting approximately 1,600 U.S. sports fans aged 18-55. To ensure the study accurately reflected the opinions of foreign born, or unacculturated, Hispanics, Turnkey – MarketCast conducted 300 in-person survey intercepts with respondents from Spanish-language dominant households.

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