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| Launched | 1987 (1987) (as Deportes Telemundo) May 12, 2015 (2015-05-12) (as NBC Deportes) July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25) (as Telemundo Deportes)[1] |
|---|---|
| Division of | Telemundo |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Owner | NBC Sports Group |
| Key people | Ray 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) |
| Headquarters | Miami,Florida Stamford,Connecticut[3] |
| Major broadcasting contracts | FIFA World Cup FIFA Women's World Cup Olympics Premier League |
| Sister network | Telemundo Universo Peacock |
| Original language | Spanish |
| Official website | telemundo.com/deportes |
Telemundo Deportes isTelemundo's sports programming division. It is owned by theNBC Sports Group, a unit ofNBCUniversal, a division ofComcast. It is responsible for the production of sports events and magazine programs that air on Telemundo, NBCUniversal's otherSpanish languagetelevision networksTeleXitos andUniverso, and thestreaming servicePeacock. Originating as the former's sports divisionDeportes Telemundo from 1999 to 2015, it broadcast an array of sports events, including thesoccer matches from various international soccer leagues including theFIFA World Cup and theOlympic Games, among others.
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 soccer matches to select teams from the Mexican Primera División (nowLiga MX). FollowingNBC'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 therights to the league that year toABC), on August 20, 2002, Telemundo signed a three-year agreement with theNational Basketball Association (NBA) for the Spanish language broadcast rights to 15 NBA and up to tenWNBA regular season games; Telemundo and the NBA did not renew the deal upon its expiration following the2004–05 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 anEnglish language broadcast of aWorld Cup qualifier between theUnited States andMexico national teams, which was broadcast as part of a one-dayfree 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 brandFútbol Mexicano (most of which aired as English language simulcasts of Telemundo'sFútbol Estelar soccer telecasts).
On October 28, 2012, NBC Sports also announced a three-year, $250 million deal to televisePremier League matches, giving Telemundo and mun2 the Spanish language rights (with the latter simulcasting games broadcast in English onNBCSN) beginning with the 2013–14 season, replacingESPN andFox 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 re-acquiredrights to NASCAR beginning in the 2015 season, and announced that it would include the option to air Spanish-language broadcasts on Telemundo and mun2. As a prelude to the contract, mun2 carried the 2014Toyota 120—the season opener of Mexico'sNASCAR Toyota Series atPhoenix Raceway—on February 28, 2014.[9][10][11]
On October 22, 2011, Deportes Telemundo acquired the Spanish language rights to broadcastFIFA tournaments beginning 2015 for around $600 million, replacingUnivision as the Spanish language broadcaster of events such as theFIFA World Cup for the first time since1970 (Fox acquired the English language U.S. broadcast rights through a separate agreement). The deal was extended on February 12, 2015, to include rights to the2018,2022 and the2026 FIFA World Cup.[12][13][14]
Through NBC'srights agreement with theNational Football League (NFL), mun2 carried a Spanish simulcast of aThanksgiving matchup between theSeattle Seahawks andSan Francisco 49ers on November 27, 2014; on February 1, 2015, the rebranded NBC Universo served as the Spanish-language broadcaster ofSuper 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]
On May 16, 2015, during Telemundo's 2015–16upfront presentation inNew York City, it was announced that Deportes Telemundo would be replaced by a new division initially known asNBC Deportes; the new division was formed as a branch of the English-languageNBC 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 the2016 Summer Olympics and the start of the division's contract withFIFA—whose first events included the2015 U-20 World Cup andWomen's World Cup.[15][16][17]
It was announced in August 2015 that the division would migrate its operations from Telemundo's headquarters inHialeah, Florida, to NBC Sports Group's facility inStamford, 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 andseverance 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 programTitulares 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]
The announced move to Stamford, Connecticut was cancelled in November 2015.[18] The division would change its name fromNBC Deportes toTelemundo Deportes in 2016.
Telemundo Deportes moved into Telemundo Center in Miami when it opened in April 2018.[19]
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Telemundo Deportes holds the sports broadcast rights to several sporting events (with much of its programming available through agreements withsoccer 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 Qatar.
It also produces several specials in conjunction with organizations to which NBC Sports maintains programming agreement such as theNational Football League (NFL).
Events which are held byNBC Sports for their English language channels are designated in Italics.