BARRIO – When Jennifer Lopez and Shakira took the NFL Halftime Show stage together with Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Lopez’s child Emme Muñiz at Super Bowl LIV in 2020, it was a culturally defining moment for the NFL. For the first time ever, a group of performers that were all of Latino descent shared the largest stage in the world, showcasing songs in both English and Spanish and paying homage to their roots with salsa-infused melodies and traditional Colombian dances.
The show-stopping celebration of Latin-American heritage not only went down as the most-viewed and most-liked halftime show of all time on YouTube (a feat achieved in just 24 hours), it also served as a bold reminder that Latinos are here to stay and that, just like football, being Latino is as American as apple pie.
In fact, Latinos—the nation’s fastest-growing population—also make up the fastest-growing fan base of the NFL, with approximately 31 million considering themselves avid football fans, according to the NFL. Those numbers were likely bolstered by Telemundo Deportes making history last year as it became the first Spanish-language broadcaster to air the Super Bowl. The Los Angeles Rams’ 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals went on to become the most-watched NFL game in Spanish-language history, registering a record-setting average of 1.9 million total viewers.
Telemundo also invested in its coverage of Sunday Night Football, which it will continue to showcase, adding a new announcement team that features former Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Rolando Cantú as analyst and sports journalist Miguel Gurwitz as play-by-play announcer, in the 2022-2023 season. The network reached 1.7 million total viewers this NFL season.
Abroad, the league also continues to engage with its Latino audience through the NFL International Series, which hosts games each year in Mexico City since 2016. By 2050, 253 million Latinos are expected to be NFL fans. Representation on the field also continues to grow, nearly doubling from 12 to 20 players in the league who identify as Latino between 2021 and 2023, according to the NFL. These include Kansas City Chiefs rookie running back, Isiah Pacheco, who has Puerto Rican heritage on his father’s side, and Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive end Robert Quinn, who is also of Puerto Rican descent.
Yesterday, more Latinos than ever before tuned in to watch the Chiefs and Eagles face off in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
