The Evolution of Spanish-Language Advertising in the U.S. Sports Market

The U.S. Hispanic population has nearly tripled since the country last hosted the World Cup 30 years ago, creating the world’s second-largest Spanish-speaking population after Mexico. Despite this demographic shift and the fact that Hispanics accounted for nearly 31% of U.S. GDP growth in 2023, Spanish-language programming remains significantly under-represented in advertising budgets. While total ad spend for such programming has stalled between 3% and 4% over the last quarter-century, brands are now beginning to adjust their strategies to reflect a $2 trillion economy that increasingly operates in both English and Spanish.

Why Brands Must Shift Away from Monolingual Strategies

The reliance on a monolingual, English-only advertising model ignores the reality of how modern U.S. Hispanic households consume media. According to data regarding language usage, 59% of U.S. Hispanics report speaking English very well, a figure that rises to 76% among those aged 5 to 17. However, this fluency does not replace Spanish; rather, it creates a bilingual environment where individuals frequently “code-switch” between languages depending on the social context, such as speaking Spanish with family members and English in professional settings.

Marketers who fail to account for this linguistic fluidity risk alienating an entire household. Effective campaigns now move beyond the “which language” debate to focus on “which moment.” For instance, a brand might deploy Spanish-language radio ads for kitchen settings, English-language mobile app advertisements for younger viewers, and bilingual messaging for families watching live sports together on the couch.

How Media Representation Influences Consumer Perception

Representation in media serves as a tangible metric for consumer engagement. A survey by Zappi regarding Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl found that 54% of U.S. Hispanic viewers felt the performance was meaningful to them, compared to 30% of non-Hispanic viewers. In Puerto Rico, that figure reached 89%. This suggests that when brands align their creative output with the cultural and linguistic reality of their audience, they generate higher levels of resonance.

The evolution of the Super Bowl Halftime Show provides a clear timeline of this change:

• 1992 (Super Bowl 26): Gloria Estefan performed in English, despite her cultural background.
• 2020: Shakira and Jennifer Lopez integrated Spanish into their performance, though it remained secondary.
• 2026: Bad Bunny performed almost exclusively in Spanish, signaling a shift in how mass-market events accommodate the U.S. Hispanic audience.

The Future of Targeted Sports Marketing

Telemundo’s current approach to World Cup advertising highlights a departure from legacy models that focus solely on individual star players like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. By centering its campaign on the question, “¿Y tú, con quién lo vas a ver?” (“Who will you be watching with?”), the network emphasizes the Latino values of family and community. This strategy acknowledges that the social experience of watching a game often dictates the language used in the room.

For brands, the lesson is clear: the most successful campaigns will stop treating Spanish-language media as a niche add-on. Instead, they will adopt a playbook that addresses the family unit in both languages simultaneously. As the U.S. market continues to diversify, the companies that thrive will be those that view bilingualism as a primary consumer expectation rather than an exception to the rule.