Olek Loewenstein: “I don’t think there’s another company with a portfolio as well-suited to serve soccer fans as TelevisaUnivision”

The passion and enthusiasm that sports generate—combined with the fact that it’s content consumed live—“is an explosive combination for any media company, and we understood that a long time ago,” said Olek Loewenstein, President of Global Sports at TelevisaUnivision, in an interview with PRODU.

The company is gearing up for its Verano Futbolero coverage, which includes four major international tournaments airing in the U.S. between June and July this year: the FIFA Club World Cup, the Concacaf Gold Cup, the UEFA Women’s Euro, and the Conmebol Women’s Copa América. The company estimates around 400 hours of production.

SPORTS PROGRAMMING    –   APPROXIMATE HOURS

Gold Cup (Matches & Wrap Arounds) (89)
Club World Cup (Matches & Wrap Arounds)   (60)
Women’s Euro Cup (Matches & Wrap Arounds)  (81)
Total Soccer Summer Hours                                    (230)
Other Summer Sports Programming       (117)
Total Summer Sports Programming Hours  (400)

Olek Loewenstein, President of Global Sports at TelevisaUnivision

“Sports are without a doubt the social moment that brings families and groups together. It’s the closest thing to a ritual—it’s somewhat like religion or shared meals for us Hispanics. It’s the only type of content that truly can’t be replicated by anything other than the cultural connections within the family. We’ve been at this for 14 years, ever since we launched the sports channel (TUDN), and in Mexico, Televisa has always been the place for major events. People know that the Olympics are broadcast on Televisa in Mexico, and that the big soccer matches are on Televisa and Univision in the U.S. That’s just the reality—we understand it very well and have capitalized on it over the years,” Loewenstein stated.

SUMMER IS THE SEASON OF MAJOR TOURNAMENT

Loewenstein emphasized that, as “the home of soccer in the U.S. and the home of major events in Mexico,” the company must always be involved in these kinds of tournaments.

He said that last year was “very successful,” with the Gold Cup airing at the same time as Copa América, and that they wanted to replicate that model this year.

Gianni Infantino of FIFA with TelevisaUnivision´s David Alegre and Olek Lowenstein with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy

“For us, the idea of super-serving the fan by delivering soccer, and the way we do that, is by leveraging our platforms. We have the Gold Cup both in Mexico and in the U.S., as well as the FIFA Club World Cup in both markets. Our main platforms are broadcast TV, where the best matches go and where we reach the largest audience with the most appealing games; then we have streaming via ViX, where we reach hardcore fans who want to see everything; and pay TV, where we offer extended coverage of the tournaments and matches. That’s how we approach it. You can’t run 24/7 coverage on broadcast TV—TUDN is there for that. And honestly, I don’t think there’s another company with a portfolio as specifically tailored to serve soccer fans as TelevisaUnivision’s platforms,” he stressed.

Loewenstein noted that the kickoff for this summer’s coverage happened two days ago, and the final wrap-up will come toward the end of July. “If you look at it, that’s part of May, all of June, and all of July filled with soccer. You multiply those 60 days of football by the level of change and continuity—it’s impressive on one hand and complicated to program on the other.”

He highlighted that one of the logistical challenges is the distance between events, and the other is the volume of hours. “We are a network built to handle large volumes of soccer because that’s our core business. Still, it’s been challenging to coordinate our resources, not on the television side, but the human resources needed to properly cover these tournaments. In the Sports division, we’re 700 people in Mexico—experts fully dedicated to sports. But these are events where the entire company gets involved: the news division, morning shows like Despierta América, all talk about soccer. It goes beyond just being a sport—it’s a company-wide effort. Of those 700 people, 300 are field crew, about 100 are in production, approximately 60 to 70 are commentators and coverage staff, and another 60 to 70 are editors. It’s a large team dedicated to delivering this experience,” he said.