U.S. Soccer signs four-year Spanish rights deal with Comcast’s Telemundo

U.S. Soccer announced a new four-year Spanish broadcast deal with Telemundo on Tuesday, bringing more U.S. men’s and women’s national team games to the home of the World Cup and Olympics.

As with U.S. Soccer’s English deal with Warner Brothers Discovery Sports, the package will have about 20 games per year: U.S. men’s and women’s national team friendlies, and the men’s team’s Concacaf Nations League group stage games.

U.S. Soccer and Telemundo, owned by Philadelphia-based Comcast, agreed to a four-year deal through 2026. Both sides declined to say what the rights fee is.

WBD Sports is paying $25 million to stream games on HBO Max and televise them on TNT, which alone is more than U.S. Soccer was earning from its combined previous deals with ESPN, Fox, and Univision.

» READ MORE: Will the USMNT play in the 2024 Copa América? U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson opens the door to it.

It’s the first time since 2006 that Telemundo has been U.S. Soccer’s Spanish-language rights holder. The USSF had been with Univision since then, and Univision’s history with U.S. Soccer went back even longer.

Notably, it’s the first time that U.S. Soccer’s Spanish-language rights holder has committed to broadcasting every U.S. men’s and women’s game in the package. Univision didn’t always carry every game it could have, especially when it came to the women’s team.

The deal starts just in time for the U.S. women’s team’s game at New Zealand on Tuesday (10 p.m., Universo, HBO Max, and Peacock). Telemundo’s Hall of Fame broadcaster Andrés Cantor will call the play-by-play with his longtime analyst partner Manuel Sol. Miguel Gurwitz will host studio coverage with Ana Jurka and Carlota Vizmanos, also all veterans of the network.

More analysts are likely coming, but they aren’t on board yet. It might not be a coincidence that a source said the deal wasn’t officially signed until Monday night.

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Comcast will put almost all of its games on over-the-TV air channel Telemundo or cable channel Universo. Every game will be streamed live via Peacock and TelemundoDeportes.com. Peacock requires a subscription, though it’s free for many Comcast TV and internet subscribers; TelemundoDeportes.com requires authentication through your cable or satellite TV provider.

Some games could be exclusive to Peacock if Telemundo and Universo are already booked with other programming. There is no guarantee of streaming-exclusive games, though, unlike with the WBD Sports deal that guarantees games on HBO Max.

The Telemundo deal solves a problem that U.S. Soccer had run into unintentionally: HBO Max can’t be streamed at bars and restaurants, whether for sports or Game of Thrones or anything else. U.S. fans, who are used to gathering for watch parties, complained on social media, led by the national American Outlaws supporters’ club.

Technically, Peacock and many other streaming platforms with live sports can’t be shown at bars and restaurants either. They are meant for individual viewing through individual subscriptions. But HBO is especially stringent about enforcing the rule.

WBD Sports is working on changing that, but it requires rewriting contracts. At least for now, bars and restaurants can put on whichever Telemundo channel is carrying the game. And when games are in English on TNT, which many will be, this won’t be a problem.

Univision will still have some U.S. games through the Concacaf tournaments it has rights to, including the men’s Gold Cup and Nations League final four.

» READ MORE: More details on U.S. Soccer's English rights deal with HBO Max and TNT

Tuesday: U.S. women at New Zealand, 10 p.m. (Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Friday: U.S. women at New Zealand, 10 p.m. (Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Wednesday, Jan. 25: U.S. men vs. Serbia at Los Angeles, 10 p.m. (Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Saturday, Jan. 28: U.S. men vs. Colombia at Carson, Calif., 7:30 p.m. (TNT, Telemundo, Peacock)

Here’s a breakdown of which companies own which U.S. national team game rights, and where to find them on TV and live streaming platforms.