When it comes to advertising, marketers may want to start targeting sports channels showing soccer in Spanish.
Hispanic sports fans are 33% more likely than non-Hispanic viewers to buy products from advertising between programs. In the last five years, viewership among this population grew by more than 25%, reported Univision, an American Spanish language television network.
Univision Communication Inc. commissioned Nielsen to conduct research by looking at more than 1,500 Hispanic and non-Hispanic individuals who considered themselves avid sports fans.
These Hispanic sports fans, or fanáticos, hold strong loyalty to their teams. Thirty percent said they would rather see their favorite team win the championship than receive $1 million in cash.
American football dominates most of the United States, with families avidly watching the NFL, college football and even high school football teams. However, Hispanic sports fans show hours of dedication to programming across TV, radio and video. The average non-Hispanic consumes 12 hours of sports programming in a week, compared to the 20 hours that Hispanics watch. In addition, Hispanic viewers lead the general public in adapting to mobile for sports, consuming twice as many hours of programming on mobile devices.
While many soccer fans are bilingual — speaking both English and Spanish — 83% prefer to view soccer in Spanish instead of English.
Jed Meyer, executive vice president of corporate research for Univision, attributed the Spanish preference to the viewers’ strong identity and culture linked to soccer. That love for the sport extends to second and third generation Hispanic Americans as well.
“People tend to pass that down from generation to generation,” Meyer said. “It’s the whole idea of community.”
The vast majority of fanáticos choose to watch soccer games live, and Meyer said many viewers considered advertising to be part of the experience. Futbol tends to be more action packed, with fewer breaks than American football, and advertisers often use product placement during the games to reach viewers, he said.