Hispanic and Latino sports fans already put up big viewership and sales figures. Brands and broadcasters just need to watch the scoreboard.
Back in early September, during an event held amid the US Open tennis tournament in New York, Nielsen teamed with Latinos in Sports (LiS) to release a study on Hispanic and Latino fandom across five major American sports leagues—MLB, MLS, NFL, NBA, and NHL. Among those in attendance was baseball Hall of Famer and World Series champion Pedro Martinez, who also enjoyed a lengthy career as a broadcaster for both MLB Network and TBS.
“It’s critically important that Latinos take on more leadership roles to represent our culture and community, and shining a spotlight on this is one of the most important things I do in life,” Martinez told ADWEEK.
The Nielsen/LiS study underscored Martinez’s argument for increased representation. Hispanic and Latino fans represent the bulk of sports’ next generation, with 72% composed of either Gen Z or Millennials—compared to just 50% of the U.S. market overall. More than 38% are more likely to follow sports on TikTok than the average fan, with 9% more likely to follow sports on social media than they were a year ago.
If that isn’t getting brands’ sports marketing attention, fan spending should. Hispanic and Latinx fans are 11% more likely to purchase a brand’s product after seeing an ad than the average fan and 39% more likely than the general population to recommend a company that sponsors their sport.
“It’s an illustration of brands saying, ‘I see you,’” said Stacie de Armas, Nielsen’s svp of inclusive innovation and diversity. “If brands are in places where Latinos are, where they have been for a long time, where they feel loyalty, where there’s a tremendous amount of passion, then those brands are going to benefit 2x, 3x by being present in those spaces.”
Brands and broadcasters can’t just approach Hispanic and Latinx fans like a monolith. As sports leagues, advertisers, and their creative partners already know, the fanbase is incredibly diverse—with the NFL’s English- and Spanish-speaking bilingual fanbase increasing 9% within the last year and MLS’ English-dominant Hispanic and Latinx fans growing 15% during the same span. If companies want this fanbase’s business, they have to consider how they’re engaging with its various cultures—or finding partners who have.
“It’s not only important now, but it’s kind of future proofing your organization to think about this market,” said Mike Valdes-Fauli, co-Founder of LiS and president of culturally focused creative agency Chemistry Cultura. “If we’re agreeing with the importance of Latinos, then what are the passion points that are my best point of entry to engage authentically? Sports, which is a unifier and a galvanizing force that brings all communities together and disproportionately creates engagement with Hispanics.”
Fans for life
The NFL alone has 15.4 million avid Hispanic and Latinx fans in the U.S., just ahead of the NBA (14.1 million) and MLB (11.3 million) but far outpacing MLS (9 million), the NHL (7.8 million), and the WNBA (7 million). Yet those fans are 39% more likely to be hyper-engaged MLS fans and 31% more open to being all-in on the WNBA than the average fan.
In fact, Nielsen and LiS found that Hispanic and Latino fans are 3% to 39% more passionate about sports than the general U.S. population.
That makes for a far less passive fanbase. While the U.S. in general is 9% more likely to watch sports on television than Hispanic and Latinx sports fans, the latter and notably younger group has no issue heading to social media (11% more likely), streaming platforms (+21%), mobile apps (+14), league websites (+19%), or podcasts (+26%) to follow their favorite teams and players.
“The passion around sports-adjacent digital content for Latinos is really high,” de Armas said. “Content that is giving me highlights, giving me breakdowns—these are opportunities we think that brands and agencies need to take a second look at.”
While a large segment prefers to watch sports live (69%), an even greater proportion of Hispanic and Latinx fans (75% combined) watch highlights (49%) or follow along on social media (26%). In fact, 23% are more likely to watch a new sport if they stream a movie or documentary about it first.
“You’ve got a younger demographic that is often connecting through music, so how do we link music and sports?” Valdes-Fauli said. “You’ve got the English-dominant Hispanic, so maybe we play with language and have some bilingual Spanglish posts. That’s what we’re aiming to do: Establish the untapped opportunity for any brand, give them the vehicle to get there, and then a few recommendations on how to win when they embark on that journey.”
Following the culture
Right around the same time it released its report with LiS, Nielsen released another report—”Fanáticos”—showing Hispanic fans’ direct impact on specific sporting events.
Pointing out that Hispanic and Latinx audiences account for 65.2 million, or 19.5%, of the U.S. population and $3.4 trillion of its spending power, Nielsen noted that young, media-savvy Hispanic and Latinx fans are changing the way the U.S. watches sports.
Hispanic and Latinx viewership has grown for Wimbledon (16%), the NBA championship (50%), the Super Bowl (51%), and, most notably, the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship (354%) between 2021 and 2024. But as Hispanic and Latinx viewership share for the Super Bowl (10% to 16%), World Series (10% to 15%), and Euro Cup Finals (35% to 40%) has grown since 2016, it has shrunk for Copa América final (73% to 53%), despite it being the most-watched in U.S. history at 12 million viewers.
“Reaching U.S. audiences probably wasn’t necessarily the top of your list if you were investing in Copa [América], but it should be,” Nielsen’s de Armas said. “There is this huge opportunity for brands to reach out to not only the Latino fanbase but the fans that Latino fans have brought to what has been considered by some like Latino sports.”
Nielsen noted that Hispanic and Latinx viewers have boosted U.S. soccer viewership in several corners, accounting for 40% of the 9.5 million who watched the 2024 UEFA Champions League final. Mexico’s Liga MX Clausura Finals, meanwhile, have seen a 74% spike in viewership growth since 2016.
This has potentially massive implications for these events’ sponsors. According to the Nielsen/LiS report, Hispanic and Latino fans were 20% more likely than the average U.S. viewer to inform themselves about brands that sponsored a sport. However, for brands unfortunate enough to pick a side in any contest, those fans are also 28% more likely to avoid brands that sponsor teams they despise.
Overall, however, Hispanic and Latinx fans were more likely to talk about sports sponsors with family, research their company, buy their product, and interact with them on social media than a general fan.
“The Latino consumer is happy that brands are paying attention and respecting them, the conduit league or team is doing well, and then the brand that is paying the league or team is also unlocking revenue,” Valdes-Fauli said. “When done correctly, there’s no loser here. It’s a virtuous cycle.”