By: Veronica Villafañe
Univision may no longer have World Cup rights, but it’s doing its best to ramp up its soccer programming. Right now, it’s prepping up for three weeks of non-stop soccer with the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, which returns to Univision beginning July 7 – just five days after the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia comes to an end.
Telemundo, which has the rights to that tournament, scored stellar numbers in the opening weekend of the event, reaching 5.3 million total viewers through the first three matches – Russia vs. New Zealand, Portugal vs. Mexico, and Cameroon vs. Chile. The majority of viewers, about four million total viewers, tuned in to see Portugal vs. Mexico. But the time difference with Russia is certainly going to affect the weekday results, as the games are airing early in the morning.
Univision will have a home advantage with the Gold Cup, as it will take place in the United States – and with prime viewing time slots.
Through its sports division – Univision Deportes – the company plans to offer a multi-platform broadcast of all 25 matches across its networks, including Univision, UniMás and UDN, as well as the Univision Deportes App, Univisiondeportes.com and Univision Now.
Held every two years, North American, Central American and Caribbean national teams will compete for a chance to qualify for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The Gold Cup kicks off with a double-header featuring first-time competitor French Guiana versus Canada and Honduras versus Costa Rica on Friday, July 7 live on UDN beginning at 7:00 pm ET.
Team USA begins its Gold Cup run against Panama on Saturday, July 8 at 4:30 pm ET. Mexico, which defeated 2013 champion USA in the 2015 tournament, faces El Salvador on Sunday, July 9 at 9:00 pm ET.
Source: Forbes
