On the heels of a very successful broadcast of the 2018 World Cup, Telemundo Deportes has acquired the Spanish-language broadcast rights to the 2019 Copa America.
Hosted in Brazil, the 2019 Copa America will feature Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and invited teams from Japan and Qatar. The winner of the 12-team tournament will earn the right to compete for the 2021 FIFA Confederations Cup.
The 2019 Copa America will be the 46th edition of the quadrennial international men’s soccer championship organized by South America’s soccer ruling body CONMEBOL. Copa America is the oldest international continental soccer competition and it determines the continental champion of South America.
While the acquisition of the Copa America rights are a big coup for Telemundo, it’s a big blow to beIN SPORTS who have televised the Spanish-language and English-language broadcasts of Copa America 2015, which reached nearly 14 million viewers in the United States.
A decision on the English-language rights to the tournament has not yet been reached.
“We are extremely pleased to join forces with CONMEBOL and the Copa America tournament,” said Ray Warren, President, Telemundo Deportes. “It is a world class event and perfectly aligns with our approach to partner with owners of the biggest and best global sporting events to bring them to our Spanish-language audience in the U.S.”
Telemundo Deportes is home to two of the world’s most popular sporting events: the FIFA World Cup through 2026 and the Summer Olympic Games through 2032. In addition, Telemundo Deportes broadcasts the Premier League and FIFA World Cup CONCACAF qualifying matches for most of the region, including the Mexico and USA national teams’ away matches.
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Gaffer,
Would ESPN, Fox, Turner Sports, beINSports USA or NBCSN be interested in the English-language rights to Copa America 2019 or will it be just Spanish only via Telemundo?
English-rights are available. My educated guess would be that it’s going to beIN SPORTS. FOX and Univision have the Gold Cup so they probably won’t be as interested as they usually would.
Christopher,
I’ve seen reporting that beginning in 2020 there are plans for a joint CONMEBOL/Concacaf Copa America tournament which will then occur every four years. Are these reports credible? Have you heard from any of your sources that this is true?
We’ll discuss that question on the next episode of the World Soccer Talk Podcast (out Thursday).
A miss for US soccer not to participate in a competitive tournament like Copa America…
Whatever happened to the talk of Copa America featuring North American sides as well?
Instead, USMNT gets to play against bogus competition and make-believe teams like St. Kitts and Cuba, and pat themselves on the back of good they are…sorry, Gold Cup is a joke, no redeeming qualities, really, and a waste of a tournament.
No CONCACAF teams are in Copa America 2019. Sometimes the tourneys are staggered to allow participation in both, but not this time.
Any updates on the English-language rights to the tournament? I wonder if Turner/BR might be willing to cast a line at it as well
No word yet on the English-language rights. The challenge is the tournament is being played at the same time as the Women’s World Cup and Gold Cup, so there’s going to be far less interest in the Copa America (in English) in the summer.
For Turner Sports, it doesn’t align with their audience. Most of the people interested in watching the Copa America in English won’t necessarily be interested in watching the UEFA Champions League unfortunately.
I guess it could end up on GolTV or BeIn.
What about NBC sports, fox sports, and ESPN
The WC will be on during the day, while the GC is played in the American evenings. The Copa can hold its own up against either one of those two. CA has many more world class players than the Gold Cup.
The 1st time I watched it was 2015 when beIN carried it. Great tournament, better than women’s World Cup (we know USA get to finals if not win) and Gold Cup (basically meaningless outside of tuneups year before WC). Hope someone in English decides to grab it.
The Gold Cup was only relevant in the years that it put you into the confederation cup. CONCACAF changed things slightly to give the CC berth to the team that won both of the previous GCs (or a playoff between two winners as happened last time).
The problem now is that FIFA has not committed to having a CC in 2022 at all.
When it comes to the USMNT what exactly is there to look forward to? They will not participate in the 2019 Copa America, a very competitive tournament. Let’s be honest, the Gold Cup is a joke. Do we have to wait until the next World Cup, hope the USA qualifies to see them play a competitive match? It’s a serious question.