A little more than a year ahead of the 2022 World Cup's kickoff, U.S. Spanish-language rights holder NBCUniversal Media LLC's Telemundo Deportes has netted more than double the number of deals it had written at a comparable point before the 2018 FIFA tournament.
NBC Sports Group Executive Vice President of Ad Sales and Partnerships Dan Lovinger, speaking on a Nov. 16 virtual conference call with reporters, said linear revenues for next year's soccer tournament in Doha, Qatar, were more than double what they were a year before the quadrennial event took place four years ago across Russia. Moreover, digital revenue has more than trebled the level from the corresponding stage in 2017.
Lovinger also noted that deals for three key presenting sponsorship positions — pregame, halftime and post-match coverage — were in place. He did not name partners or give further specifics.
Limited inventory remains for the 32-team, 64-match event, but Lovinger expects the units to be sold before the beginning of the upfront marketplace, when content companies will look to sell linear and digital schedules ahead of the 2022-23 TV season. With run of play and no clock stoppages, soccer events do not include the typical commercial breaks found in other sports telecasts.
Telemundo reportedly generated nearly $300 million in ad sales around the World Cup in 2018.
Presentation plans
Telemundo Deportes' coverage from Qatar will include 56 matches on Telemundo (US) and eight others that will be simulcast on the broadcast network and cable service UNIVERSO (US). All matches will be livestreamed. The company plans to have talent on-site for all the matches and expanded digital and social coverage.
Eli Velazquez, executive vice president of sports content at NBCU Telemundo Enterprises, said the presentation from Doha will mark the first time since the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay's Montevideo that all of the FIFA tournament matches will be played in one city. The host nation won that 13-team event.
While making it easier logistically for the players, teams and NBC crews, the concentration of fans could make for some transportation challenges, according to Velazquez. Telemundo Deportes is sending a delegation to Doha for the Arab Cup, starting Nov. 30, to check out resources, stadia and transmission quality. Telemundo Deportes will livestream the event's final Dec. 18.
With the tournament being moved to fall to avoid the heat of summer in Qatar, FIFA futbol will compete for U.S. viewers with pro and college football, the NBA and NHL. On Thanksgiving 2022, for instance, Telemundo will air four World Cup matches leading into NBC (US)'s coverage of an NFL prime-time game. The soccer matches will encounter competition from NFL games on CBS (US) and FOX (US) that afternoon.
Audience aspirations
Telemundo Deportes President Ray Warren anticipates that despite the time difference from Doha to the East Coast — which he said will make it "a daytime World Cup" in the U.S. — the audience will exceed the Russian tournament. Warren said there will be "more viewership, more activity" for "a bigger event" in Qatar, especially if both the U.S. and Mexico make the tourney.
The U.S. team failed to qualify for the 2018 World FIFA tournament.
On the call, executives pointed out that nearly 40% of the 2018 World Cup linear audience on Telemundo was female and that Telemundo Deportes' coverage captured an 80% share of the 18-to-49 age group of bilingual audience members during the competition.
The total audience delivery average for Telemundo Deportes — coverage on the broadcast network, a handful of telecasts on Universo and simulcasts on national NBCSN (US), TelemundoDeportes.com, the Telemundo Deportes En Vivo app and the NBC Sports app — averaged 2.30 million watchers with the 2018 World Cup.
English-language rights holder Fox Corp. averaged some 2.77 million watchers on FOX and Fox Sports 1.