The FIFA Club World Cup will kick off nearly 400 hours of soccer programming from Spanish language broadcaster TelelvisaUnivision this summer.
The network is calling it ‘verano futbolero” – summer of football – and will air four major international tournaments on TV and live stream.
Univision will produce and package all 63 Club World Cup matches available to live stream for free in English on DAZN, TelevisaUnivision president of global sports Olek Loewenstein told USA TODAY Sports.
Univision, UniMás and TUDN will also broadcast 18 Club World Cup matches in Spanish, including the June 14 opener featuring Lionel Messi and the July 13 final. TNT will broadcast matches on TV in English.
The Concacaf Gold Cup held June 15-July 7 will be available on Univision, UniMás, TUDN and ViX. The entire UEFA Women’s Euro (July 2-27) and CONMEBOL Women’s Copa America (July 12-August 2) will be available to stream on ViX with select games broadcasting on TUDN.
The company will also broadcast this summer’s Leagues Cup tournament, which pits clubs from Major League Soccer and LIGA MX in Mexico against each other from July 30-August 31.
‘When it comes to just pure hours of soccer programming this summer, we really are kind of at the forefront of making sure that the game – the beautiful game – is being consumed here in the United States,” Loewenstein said.
The Club World Cup features 32 of the best soccer teams in the world, vying for their share of a $1 billion prize pool later this month.
The reigning Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain and runner-up Inter Milan are in the field. Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid from Spain; Manchester City and Chelsea from England; Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Germany; Juventus from Italy; and other standout clubs from Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are in the mix.
Along with Inter Miami, the Seattle Sounders and LAFC will represent Major League Soccer in the tournament.
‘Club World Cup is the first time the tournament this size happens. I’m excited to see how the U.S. receives the tournament. I think that’s part of what I want to see,” Loewenstein said. “But I’m also excited to see matchups that we always say we would want to see, and this is the first time you’re actually going to get those, right? Everybody talks a big game on the league side of how big your team is and, ‘If I played you in this game, I would be better.’ And I think this is going to be a time where we’re going to be able to see, comparatively, the power of the different big leagues in the world.”
Messi and Inter Miami face Egyptian side Al Ahly at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in the Club World Cup opener. The Club World Cup final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Club World Cup matches will also be played in Atlanta, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington D.C. this summer.
