Spanish gamers have fun their 1-0 victory within the FIFA World Cup 2026 Closing match in opposition to Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19, 2026.
Hannah Peters – Fifa | Fifa | Getty Photos
The FIFA World Cup raked in large viewership numbers for its media rights house owners Fox Corp. and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo.
However NBCUniversal executives say the large viewers numbers for the World Cup did not simply reinforce the significance of dwell sports activities in an setting the place media corporations are competing more durable than ever to attract viewers, in addition they highlighted that Spanish-language programming has develop into an essential a part of its technique for streaming service Peacock.
The World Cup last broke information for each English and Spanish telecasts, in accordance with Nielsen. Almost 39 million viewers watched on Fox’s broadcast and streaming retailers, whereas about 24 million tuned in on Telemundo, Peacock and different NBC properties, marking essentially the most watched Spanish broadcast of a soccer match within the U.S. Telemundo and Peacock averaged 6.3 million viewers via the 104 matches.
Like different dwell sports activities, the occasion additionally raked in hefty promoting {dollars}. The match greater than doubled income from 2022, the final time Telemundo and Peacock aired it, in accordance with NBCUniversal chairman of world promoting and partnerships Mark Marshall.
It has additionally led to development for Peacock’s subscriber base and engagement, Marshall and Cesar Conde, who’s the chairman of NBCUniversal Information Group, together with Telemundo, stated in interviews.
“It not solely introduced so many new audiences and subscribers to Peacock, but it surely additionally launched them to a lot further programming that they weren’t acquainted with,” Conde stated, including that via Peacock viewers had other ways of consuming the content material, from multiview to trivia choices. “I believe it made a giant distinction.”
Peacock, which launched in 2020, had 46 million subscribers as of April 30 and is predicted to hit profitability within the second quarter. Each of these metrics put the streaming service behind most of its rivals, together with Netflix and Disney+.
Comcast, which introduced on June 29 that it plans to spin off NBCUniversal, will report earnings outcomes on Thursday.
Stay sports activities generally have lifted Peacock — particularly after NBCUniversal began airing the NBA in 2025. The rising presence of the Olympics on the platform has additionally been key, with all the occasions now proven on Peacock, together with shoulder programming and different kinds of content material.
Telemundo has additionally been bulking up on sports activities rights, along with providing NBC’s sports activities in Spanish telecasts. This week Telemundo introduced it had acquired the Spanish-language rights to the UEFA Champions League starting with the 2027-28 season.
“Along with simply the large audiences, it additionally simply confirmed us that buyers proceed to alter the best way that they watch media,” stated Conde, referring to the World Cup. “We type of knew that buyers have been very fluid between linear and streaming. I believe this additionally confirmed they’re very fluid throughout language, and are on the lookout for that genuine connection.”
Peacock first aired the World Cup in Spanish in 2022, which offered a bigger-than-expected increase for the service. Nonetheless, Peacock on the time was the primary streaming outlet for the World Cup, no matter language. This 12 months Fox, the proprietor of the English-language rights, additionally supplied the World Cup on its lately launched Fox One.
“I believe it is a mixture of the good work between each the Telemundo and the Peacock groups. The mix of that work allowed us to seize an enormous share of that viewers in streaming, regardless of having elevated competitors on that platform,” Conde stated.
FIFA is more likely to promote the English and Spanish rights for the U.S. broadcast of the 2030 and 2034 World Cups mixed in a single bundle, quite than individually because it has prior to now, CNBC lately reported.
“There appeared to be a variety of cannibalization in Spanish language for this World Cup,” stated Lee Berke, a sports activities media marketing consultant and CEO of LHB Sports activities, Leisure & Media. “You could as properly promote the rights collectively, notably when it is being supplied on a stream foundation. Then it is only a query of which feed the viewer goes to.”
Every of the upcoming tournaments is predicted to command between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, a giant step up from essentially the most lately negotiated offers, CNBC reported.
“This World Cup generated NFL model numbers, and for those who may have aired these video games, particularly the Closing, in prime time, it could have gotten nearer to NFL championship numbers,” Berke stated.
Broader enchantment of Spanish content material
Nonetheless, this added viewership from Spanish-language content material has prolonged past sports activities, Marshall and Conde stated, and advertisers are taking discover.
It has been a contributor to Peacock’s development, particularly.
“Generally we’d like occasions like this to reset how we take into consideration advertising and marketing and shoppers. We nonetheless have conversations the place you will have Spanish language as like a distinct segment extension to a media plan,” stated Marshall concerning the World Cup. “The actual fact is this can be a $4 trillion spending cohort that must be a centerpiece of your media plan, not an afterthought.”
Promoting has develop into a extra essential income driver and enterprise initiative for media corporations. Two key causes: elevated strain to make streaming companies worthwhile exterior of simply subscriber charges and the skyrocketing prices of sports activities rights.
In response, advertisers are more and more shopping for spots on Spanish-language content material, particularly because the Hispanic inhabitants has considerably grown within the U.S. Hispanic shoppers make up about 20% of the U.S. inhabitants and characterize greater than $4.1 trillion in buying energy, in accordance with a 2025 report from Nielsen.
“Hispanic shoppers are a robust demographic for manufacturers prepared to satisfy them with authenticity and perception,” stated Stacie de Armas, Nielsen’s head of inclusive content material and insights.
Even exterior of Spanish audio system, NBCUniversal is experimenting with getting English-language audiences to tune into Telemundo content material.
The success of non-English-language collection like Netflix’s “Narcos” and “Squid Recreation,” in addition to the Korean movie “Parasite,” led NBCUniversal to check whether or not it may entice English-speaking audiences to Telemundo’s content material, notably on Peacock.
Previous to the Season 10 premiere of “El Señor de los Cielos” on July 7, Telemundo and Peacock ran advertisements — in English and with English subtitles — pushing viewers to atone for the prior seasons on Peacock.
Because of the advert, viewership of prior “El Señor de los Cielos” seasons acquired a jolt: English-subtitle viewing was up 42% and English-dominant viewership jumped to 25% from 9%, stated Marshall. New-to-Telemundo viewers for prior season of the present additionally rose to 39% from 22%.
“Now we’re making an attempt to see if there’s different alternatives,” to recreate this playbook for Telemundo and Peacock, Marshall stated.
