Latinos kick soccer into the mainstream
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Hispanic sports fans are helping drive the surging popularity of soccer in the U.S. while also engaging heavily with other sports, per a new report.
Why it matters: Understanding how Latinos consume sports is key for advertisers, teams and brands that want to capture the coveted and growing audience.
Zoom in: A new analysis by Nielsen found the Copa América final in July drew a record audience of 12 million viewers — many whom were not Hispanic.
- The share of Latinos who watched the Copa fell from 73% to 53% over the last three tournaments, but "that doesn't mean that there's less Hispanic audience," says Stacie de Armas, Nielsen's SVP of Diverse Insights, Intelligence, and Innovation. "The audience actually grew year over year."
- It's that the game now has a broader appeal, driven in part by Hispanic enthusiasm — specifically Latino youths who are more likely to share their fandom on social media, de Armas adds.
- About 72% of Latino sports fans are Gen Z or Millennial, compared to just 50% of U.S. sports fans overall.
- "When you look at this trajectory over the last few years, it wasn't all of a sudden that Copa became something that everybody wanted to watch — it was the enthusiasm bleeding over from Latino fans," de Armas says.
Zoom out: While Latinos are influencing how non-Hispanic Americans consume soccer, they are also increasingly engaging with sports that U.S. fans have traditionally favored, according to the report.
- From 2021 to 2024, there was a 51% increase in Super Bowl viewership among Hispanics and a 354% increase in viewership for the Women's Basketball NCAA championship.
- Another recent analysis from Nielsen and Latinos in Sports found Latinos are 31% more likely to be avid WNBA fans than other U.S. residents.
What we're watching: Latino athletes like flag football star Diana Flores are having a growing influence in sports fandom and could make sports even more appealing to Latinos, de Armas says.
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