Denver Spanish-language radio station La Buena Onda, KNRV-AM 1150, in partnership with Univision Radio, has secured the exclusive rights to broadcast NFL Monday-night games, playoff games and Super Bowl XLII in Spanish.
The deal marks the first time the NFL games will be broadcast in Spanish in the Denver market, said Heberto Limas-Villers, president of New Radio Venture, which owns La Buena Onda in Denver and Phoenix (where it is KNUV-AM 1190).
“We are talking about developing sports in Spanish radio,” said Limas- Villers, who already has the rights to broadcast Colorado Rapids games and is working to create the same deals with other local sports teams. “This is significant; it brings the games to our listeners, and it will drive revenue.”
Univision Radio is in its second year of broadcasting the NFL games in more than a dozen other cities. The Univision Radio and New Radio Venture lineup includes a 30-game broadcast schedule with Monday-night games, Thanksgiving Day games, NFL playoffs and Super Bowl XLII.
The move by New Radio Venture is expected to raise the profile of the NFL among Spanish-language listeners and is in line with the NFL’s Latino initiatives.
“Our Spanish-language fan base is growing rapidly,” said Peter O’Reilly, NFL director of marketing. “Now we can deliver the game in a tailored way to this market.”
The Latino population accounts for 15 percent of the U.S. population and more than $800 billion in annual spending power, according to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
Among Latinos ages 12 and older, 72 percent interact with the NFL at least sometime each week during football season, compared with 74 percent of the U.S. population as a whole, according to an NFL Fan Research study. The study also found 62 percent of bilingual Hispanics and 73 percent of English-dominant Hispanics are interested in football.
“Hispanic fans are standing up and being counted,” O’Reilly said. “The beauty of our game is there are so many fans that are fans of the game in general and want the power of the Monday-night platform.”
Other initiatives include games on ESPN Deportes; NBC Sunday-night games available in Spanish via Secondary Audio Programming; and .
And this week, the NFL is launching a Spanish-language TV campaign called “juntense” (get together) with ads airing on CBS, Fox, ESPN and NBC along with Telemundo and ESPN Deportes. The ads, which are in Spanish, will air with English subtitles during football games on the English- language networks.
“This is just one more way that NFL football is reaching out,” said Jim Saccomano, spokesman for the Denver Broncos.
Previously in Denver, NFL radio broadcasting in Spanish has been piecemeal, said Limas-Villers. The Denver Broncos have an exclusive contract with Spanish radio station Que Bueno, KBNO-AM 1280, to broadcast their games.
The contract to broadcast not only gives Spanish-language listeners a chance to follow the season, it is also a tool to attract new advertisers and please those already interested in reaching Latino consumers through football. Univision and La Buena Onda will split the ad sales in the Denver and Phoenix markets.
“We see a younger generation of Latinos who are connecting to the game at a younger age and nudging their parents and grandparents,” O’Reilly said. “There is an opportunity for us to deliver on Latinos’ passion for sports, and that is what is really driving the connection.”
Staff writer Elizabeth Aguilera can be reached at eaguilera or at 303-954-1372.
