NFL, Telemundo & NBC Sports Team To Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month

The NFL, Telemundo and NBC Sports have teamed to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15) with a unique broadcast for Hispanic viewers of the "Sunday Night Football" Miami Dolphins-New York Jets game on Sunday, September 26 at 8 p.m. ET. Telemundo will broadcast its first-ever "Sunday Night Football" game on its New York, Los Angeles and Miami Telemundo stations. Los Angeles is included because it is the largest Hispanic market in the nation and is the hometown of Jets quarterback and former USC star Mark Sanchez.

NBC Sports' "Sunday Night Football" production team will partner with Deportes Telemundo to broadcast the game from Miami between these two AFC East rivals from top Hispanic Markets in two languages with kickoff at 8:20 p.m. ET. Deportes Telemundo will provide its own Spanish-speaking award-winning commentators, Jessi Losada, Rene Girardo and Edgar Lopez.

"We are pleased to partner with NBC Sports and Telemundo to offer our Hispanic fans the Dolphins-Jets 'Sunday Night Football' game in English and Spanish," says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  "This unique broadcast allows us to further connect with this passionate fan base in their language of choice, as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.  We are committed to delivering NFL content to our Hispanic fans and have an extensive reach in both English and Spanish through multiple platforms such as TV, radio, online, and in print." 

"We are thrilled to partner with NBC Sports to bring the excitement of the NFL and the 'Sunday Night Football' franchise to our sports fans in these three major U.S. Hispanic markets," said Don Browne, President, Telemundo. "Hispanics are passionate about their sports and this is a great opportunity for them to watch this great NFL rivalry through our Telemundo Station Group."

"Telemundo prides itself in providing our audiences with the best in sports programming that is relevant to their interests as U.S. Hispanics," said Jorge Hidalgo, Senior Executive Vice President, Sports, Telemundo. "All three production teams are among the best in the industry and fans will be able to enjoy the game in the highest-quality and with the best football commentators in the world."

As part of the NFL's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, teams will designate Hispanic Heritage home games to celebrate and recognize their Hispanic fans, players, coaches and local communities.  NFL players will also participate in local community outreach.  Team specific details will be announced at a later date.

The national anthem will be performed by Latin superstar and Dolphins' limited partner and Latin superstar Marc Anthony.

This announcement is a continuation of NBC Sports and the NFL's cooperation to reach the fast-growing Hispanic audience. In 2007 with the Cowboys vs. Bears "Sunday Night Football" game, NBC Sports produced Spanish-language versions of its award-winning "Sunday Night is Football Night" ("Los Domingo de noche, Sunday NFL") promotional campaign featuring Bears guard Roberto Garza. The NFL and Telemundo have partnered for the past four years to produce two weekly NFL features, two annual Super Bowl specials, and two Kickoff Weekend specials. 

The 2009 NFL regular season averaged 1.1 million Hispanic viewers per game, more than any other U.S. sport, and up 31 percent from the 2008 season.  Super Bowl XLIV is the most-watched sports program and most-watched English-language program of any kind among Hispanics in history.