Why Hispanic Sports Fans Are the Most Brand-Responsive Audience in America, with Fede Garza

Live sports remain one of the few moments where a fragmented audience still shows up at the same time, and increasingly that audience is multicultural. You can watch it happen any time a big match lands, when watch parties spill out of living rooms and into the streets. But look under the hood at who is actually watching, and the makeup of that audience is shifting fast. The last World Cup told the story clearly. Matches featuring Team USA drew a broad audience, but the rest of the rounds were powered by multicultural viewers, and that was on English-language broadcast. Shift to Spanish-language coverage, and the level of fandom moves to another level entirely.That is the audience that will define the 2026 World Cup, and it is the most brand-responsive one Nielsen tracks. Authentic connection here is not a nice-to-have. It is a core business strategy. To unpack what that looks like, recording just two days before the tournament kicks off, Brian and Julie sit down with one of the people who knows this audience best.Our guest: Fede GarzaFede Garza, SVP, Research Strategy & Insights, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. Fede sits at the absolute forefront of tracking how Hispanic audiences consume media and how brands can authentically connect with them. With Telemundo holding the Spanish-language rights to the 2026 World Cup, few people have a sharper read on the audience that will define the tournament.Chapters00:00 Live Sports as the Last Cultural Anchor — why everybody still shows up at the same time00:00 Welcome to The Round Out — meet your hosts, Brian Fuhrer and Julie DeTraglia00:00 Multicultural Audience Flows — how each fanbase spiked at the last World Cup00:00 Meet Fede Garza — tracking Hispanic audiences at Telemundo00:00 The Cultural Energy of the Hispanic Sports Fan — the World Cup runup at Telemundo00:00 Doubling the Numbers — why Spanish-language coverage resonates the way it does00:00 Multi-Platform Measurement — streaming, broadcast, and the road to Peacock00:00 The Takeaway for Marketers — building trust with a growth audience00:00 The Ad Spend Disconnect — 20% of the population, a fraction of the budget00:00 The Festival Fan Lifestyle — music, social causes, and the opportunity beyond the broadcastWhat you'll hearWhy live sports remain the one cultural moment where everyone still shows up at once, and why the audience underneath is changing faster than the ratings suggestHow multicultural viewers powered the last World Cup, with Asian viewing jumping to 15% when Japan played and Mexico driving a 20% Hispanic audience against PolandWhy Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup easily doubles English-language numbers among Hispanic fans, and why that engagement matters to brandsHow Telemundo reads an audience that overindexes on streaming while broadcast still dominates Spanish-dominant homes, and what the World Cup means for PeacockThe ad spend disconnect: why Hispanics make up 20% of the U.S. population while targeted ad investment lags far behindWhy the 2026 World Cup audience wants more than the match, with 76% of Hispanic World Cup fans interested in live music and 63% who care deeply about social causesThe takeaway for brandsMulticultural sports fans are highly engaged consumers who actively reward the brands that show up for their communities. When audiences make active purchasing decisions or switch brands based on who shows up, that is where the real commercial opportunity lies. It is about building authentic trust and long-term partnerships, not just securing impressions.About the showThe Round Out is Nielsen's podcast about the most significant expansion of sports fandom in a generation. Hosted by Brian Fuhrer and Julie DeTraglia, the show takes the numbers Nielsen sees every day and rounds out the picture with the cultural context that tells you what they actually mean, not just who the new fans are, but what they mean for the brands trying to earn their loyalty. Anchored by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, it's a front-row seat to American sports fandom as it shifts beneath our feet.Find us anytime at theroundout.com.