ESPN Deportes

ESPN Deportes caters to a large audience in the United States. There are over 60 million Hispanic Americans currently living in the United States. Nielsen estimates that 61 percent of the Hispanic population in the country watches soccer. Therefore, roughly 40 million people of that population watch soccer.

ESPN Deportes provides Spanish-language sports coverage to the American audience that prefers to watch in their native tongue. Granted, the channel does not focus solely on soccer. Rather, it is ESPN’s outlet to cover sports in a general sense for the Spanish audience.

For example, the channel boasts an impressive number of boxing and UFC fights and shows. Moreover, many of the programs throughout the day are studio shows. Still, many of those orient themselves around soccer.

As the name implies, ESPN Deportes is a Spanish channel. Therefore, there is little to no English content. Many of the programs run on the channel mirror their English counterparts, but those air on the standard ESPN. Shows like SportsCenter, certain sporting events like Monday Night Football or basketball and other programs run on both. However, they are obviously in different languages.

READ MORE: Interview with ESPN Deportes soccer analyst Mario Kempes.

The channel differs on where to find it based on your providers. Oftentimes, you need an upgraded sports package to watch with standard cable providers. However, satellite TV providers DirecTV and DISH both carry the channel. Additionally, in the rising world of streaming, the likes of Fubo and Sling carry the channel. Yet, there are some caveats. YouTube TV does not stream ESPN Deportes. Also, Hulu requires an add-on package to get much of their Spanish content.

ESPN Deportes soccer coverage

As stated earlier, the Hispanic population loves soccer, creating a huge potential market for ESPN in the United States. ESPN, as a network, holds the rights to many leagues and competitions from throughout world soccer. Just to name a few, LaLiga, Bundesliga, select MLS games, UEFA European Championships and World Cup Qualifying, FA Cup, Copa del Rey and others. There is no shortage of soccer to go around.

But, do not expect each of these to air on ESPN Deportes; time constraints limit that possibility. Therefore, many games go over to the paid-streaming service ESPN+. There, many of the broadcasts of games provide the option of English- or Spanish-language commentary. While not necessarily part of ESPN’s Spanish channel, it does cater the same audience.

ESPN Deportes will show games. Usually, those are domestic games from the MLS or the USL Championship. Yet, with the wealth of options at their disposal, select World Cup Qualifying games from throughout the world air on the channel.

For additional coverage, ESPN Deportes provides studio shows galore throughout the day. The most notable of these is Fútbol Picante, a Mexican-based show that provides analysis, commentary and interviews from the soccer world. Generally, the analysis circles around Liga MX, which is also part of ESPN’s soccer coverage as a whole.

Upcoming Matches on ESPN Deportes:

Other shows include SportsCenter, which has a more soccer-oriented feel than the English counterpart, or Ahora o Nunca, a late-night show that blends pop culture and sports.