Fútbol has long reigned as the king of sports among Hispanics, but recent Nielsen´s research shows that many Latinos in the U.S. are warming to American football and the NFL. The 2012 NFL season attracted a record number of Hispanic viewers, and Super Bowl XLVII drew in nearly 10 million Latino viewer ages 12 and up. So how long will soccer keep its crown, or has the NFL already edged the beautiful game?

1. A NEW JOINT STUDY FROM
PRS AND NIELSEN EXAM-
INES THE ROLE OF PACK-
AGING AND IN-STORE EN-
VIRONMENT
WHAT
DRIVES
NEW
PRODUCT
SUCCESS?
FROM FÚTBOL
TO FOOTBALL.
A MATTER OF
PASSION
REPORT
APRIL 2013

2. 2 FÚTBOL TO FOOTBALL
FROM
FÚTBOL TO
FOOTBALL...
A MATTER
OF PASSION

3. 3Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company
HAS THE NFL EDGED OUT FÚTBOL
AMONGST HISPANICS?
To talk about sports among Latinos is to talk about the “beautiful
game”, or fútbol, or soccer or football (whichever you prefer). Fútbol is
embedded in the Latino culture; after all, Latin America is the birthplace
for stars who are to soccer what Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle are to
America’s pastime. Names like Maradona, Pelé, and Messi stand out in
the minds of many throughout the world, not just Hispanics. And so, for
countless decades it was considered the king of sports for Latinos.
Today, this sport still thrives in Hispanic communities; however, another
sport is winning the hearts of many Hispanics – the NFL. Given the
high rate of US Born Latinos, and the number of young Latinos under
the age of 30, it’s not surprising that football is starting to get a larger
audience. Marketers who can tap into this fast growing group are
setting themselves up for success. But there is much more to the story.
Not all Hispanics are the same, and savvy marketers need to know the
difference.
Last season, the NFL averaged a high number of Latino viewers, with
Super Bowl XLVII seen by almost 10 million Hispanics ages 12 and up,
the largest Hispanic audience to date. With these impressive numbers,
the big question is: Has the NFL edged out soccer as the king of sports
amongst Hispanics?
On a macro level, the gap is wide for viewing between these two sports,
but will unique idiosyncrasies develop as we decompose viewing and
focus on influencers such as language and country of origin.
Read as: An average of 404,000 Hispanics 12+ tuned in to the Liga MX Apertura for the 2012
404 55 29
2,637
1,484
LIGA MX
APERTURA
MLS INT'L SOCCER MEXICO
NAT'L GAMES
NFL 2012
AVG VIEWERS (000) A12+, 2012 SEASON

4. 4 FÚTBOL TO FOOTBALL
Read as: 56% of the Hispanics ages 12+ that tuned into the NFL 2012 season were Hispanics that speak mostly or only English.
THE POWER OF
LANGUAGE
Viewing NFL games is driven by Hispanics that speak mostly or only
English, while an inverse relationship occurs with Mexico national
games, also known as “El TRI”. Here, the largest share of viewers is
Spanish speaking Hispanics. Bilingual Hispanics watched the NFL, but
a greater percentage tuned into Mexico’s national soccer games, also
known as “El Tri”.
Nielsen research shows that engagement of Spanish speaking Hispanics
to the NFL season may have been low, but how much of a bounce did
the Super Bowl in particular see from this audience? The majority of
Hispanics that watched Super Bowl XLVII were still those that speak
mostly or only English; the percent of Spanish speaking Hispanics
improved slightly. Specifically, while 56 percent of Hispanics 12 and up
who tuned into the 2012 NFL season speak mostly English, 48 percent
of these same viewers tuned into the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Spanish
dominant speakers increased by 3 percentage points from the regular
season to the Super Bowl.
Looking a little deeper, we evaluated viewing levels from Hispanic
viewers throughout the NFL season.
% DISTRIBUTION BY LANGUAGE FOR 2012, 12+
ENGLISH DOM SPANISH DOM SPANISH/ENGLISH EQUAL
56%
15%
29%
NFL 2012
2%
60%
37%
EI TRI

5. 5Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company
INCREMENTAL REACH % FOR NFL SEASON
BY RACE / ETHNICITY & LANGUAGE, 12+
Read as: 50% of Hispanics 12+ tuned into the regular season, with another 9.4% tuning into the playoffs.
PLAYOFFS
REGULAR SEASON
HISPANICS - 9.4
SPANISH DOM - 9.7
EQUAL - 10.3
ENGLISH DOM - 8.0
BLACK - 6.4
WHITE - 7.5
ASIAN - 10.2
HISPANICS - 50.2
SPANISH DOM - 34.2
EQUAL - 47.9
EMNGLISH DOM - 73.7
BLACK - 77.3
WHITE - 72.9
ASIAN - 59.6

6. 6 FÚTBOL TO FOOTBALL
Breaking the analysis into two phases, regular season and playoffs, we
found that English speaking Hispanics had the highest reach during the
regular season, confirming once more that Hispanics who speak English
dominate Hispanic viewing of the NFL. Also, viewing increased from
Spanish speaking Hispanics once the playoffs began.
When compared to ethnicity, English speaking Hispanics viewership was
as strong as non-Hispanics. In fact, only African Americans had a greater
overall reach.
In addition to our prior analysis of viewing by language to ‘El TRI’ games,
we also examined a Mexico vs. USA game, which to fútbol aficionados,
is as compelling as the Super Bowl.
Mexico vs. USA games have similar language distribution trends as all
TRI games, except that Hispanics that speak mostly or only English may
have an increased interest in the USA vs. Mexico matches.
HISPANIC 12+ AVERAGE VIEWERS &
DISTRIBUTION BY LANGUAGE
“EL TRI” GAMES 2012
MEXICO VS. USA - GOLD CUP FINAL 2011
Read as: “El TRI” games during 2012, averaged 3.4 million Hispanics ages 12+. 2% of
Hispanics that tuned into EL TRI games spoke mostly or only
English Dominant
English Dominant
2%
5%
Spanish Dominant
Spanish Dominant
60%
63%
Spanish/ English Equal
Spanish/ English Equal
37%
32%
Hispanic 12+
Hispanic 12+
3,357
6,326

7. 7Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company
COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN COUNTS
Successful marketers understand there are common customs and habits
amongst Hispanics, but it is vital that they remain keenly aware of their
diversity. Hispanics come from various regions with distinct culture and
interests. While some Latinos breathe and live fútbol, the intensity is not
quite the same across all Latin American Countries. The following data
illustrates the role cultural diversity plays in sports viewing.
EL TRI 2012 COPA AMERICANFL
3.9
8.9
5.0
4.0 3.6
12.8
8.4
12.0
2.3
1.2 1.7
2.8
CARIBBEAN SOUTH AMERICA CENTRAL AMERICAMEXICO
Read as: Hispanics of Mexican descent had a 3.9 average rating during the NFL season
AVERAGE RATING BY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, L+SD

8. 8 FÚTBOL TO FOOTBALL
NFL games are more likely to be watched by Hispanics of Mexican and
Caribbean descent; while Mexican Americans tune into the NFL with
solid numbers, their average rating more than doubles when ‘El TRI’
plays. With the exception of Caribbean Hispanics, fútbol tournaments
draw huge Hispanic audiences; however engagement varies by
tournament and is usually influenced by participation of country of
origin.
The chart below illustrates the country of origin effect by comparing the
Copa America, played in Argentina with all South American countries,
vs. Gold Cup, played on US soil with US, Mexico & Central American
nations participating.
Read as: Hispanics of Mexican origin averaged a 6.23 during the group phase of the Copa America, and a 4.16 during the knockout stage.
VIEWING TO COPA AMERICA AND GOLD CUP BY
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN AVERAGE RATING L+SD
COPA AMERICA 2011
GROUP PHASE KNOCKOUT STAGE
GOLD CUP 2011
5.7
11.8
10.9
20.2
3.0
6.9
CARIBBEAN
SOUTH
CENTRAL
MEXICO
CARIBBEAN
SOUTH
CENTRAL
MEXICO
6.2
4.2
8.8
15.4
11.0
12.6
1.5
1.8
1.0
2.5

9. 9Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company
Copa America drew the largest number of viewers from Americans
with South American descent, but The Gold Cup was a different tale.
Hispanics with South American descent tuned in the least, while
Hispanics of Central American ancestries were the most engaged
through the whole tournament.
Mexican Americans tuned in to both tournaments, but at a higher rate
during the Gold Cup. The Mexican team did not qualify for the knockout
phase of the Copa America, but competed in the finale of the Gold Cup
– thus explaining the vast difference in viewing to the knockout phases.
To complete the analysis, we compared each sport’s marquee event:
the Super Bowl vs. the World Cup final:
World Cup for combined telecast by Univision & ABC
Read as: 37% of the Hispanics that speak mostly or only English tuned in to Super Bowl XLIV in 2010
Language spoken and country of origin continue to be compelling
factors: Hispanics of South or Central America watched the Super
Bowls, but preferred the World Cup finale, for its own. Caribbean
Hispanics overwhelmingly prefer the Super Bowl, while Mexican
Americans viewing was almost identical to each. Language drives what
is watched, as well as where it is watched and for fútbol, Latino viewers
say: “En español por favor”.
AUDIENCE COMPOSITION FOR A12+ BY LANGUAGE & COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
FOR THE SUPER BOWL & WORLD CUP OF 2010
SPORTING EVENT
ENGLISH
DOM
SPANISH
DOM
SPANISH/
ENGLISH
HISPANIC MEXICAN CARIBBEAN
SOUTH
AMERICAN
CENTRAL
AMERICAN
Super Bowl XLIV 2010 37% 11% 17% 21% 19% 22% 27% 12%
*World Cup 2010 4% 15% 11% 11% 11% 6% 17% 16%
World Cup 2010 UNI 3% 29% 20% 19% 20% 9% 27% 31%
World Cup 2010 ABC 5% 1% 3% 3% 2% 3% 8% 2%
Super Bowl XLVII 2013 38% 12% 23% 25% 22% 27% 23% 19%

10. 10 FÚTBOL TO FOOTBALL
FÚTBOL, REMAINS
CULTURALLY
RELEVANT
The key question is whether football had replaced fútbol as the king
of sports among Hispanics. If at first blush it seems as if the NFL has
successfully courted the lucrative Hispanic market, capitalizing on
English speaking Hispanics, the NFL still has opportunities with the
Spanish speaking or bilingual Latinos. As this group acculturates, we
expect they will watch more American football.
Fútbol has a similar relationship with Spanish speaking and bilingual
Hispanics, but the affinity for the sport is strongest with national team
play. A national game featuring Mexico is one of the hottest sports
properties, considering 73 percent of Mexican Americans speak mostly
Spanish or are bilingual, these games are a sure bet to draw huge
audiences, thus emphasizing the combined influence of language and
country of origin.
Has the NFL edged out fútbol? It could be a matter of passion, but the
truth is that while the NFL has certainly made in-roads, and in small
segments it is more popular than fútbol, it still appears to be a work in
progress.
National game featuring Mexico
is one of the hottest sports
properties, considering 73%
of Mexican Americans speak
mostly Spanish or are bilingual.
73%

11. 11Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company
IT’S FOURTH DOWN
AND GOAL. REACH
AND RESONATE
WITH HISPANIC
CONSUMERS
The NFL, The Mexican National soccer games and other National
soccer tournaments are some of the most effective ways to market to
Hispanics. With over 52 million consumers, it is critical for companies
to reach and resonate with Hispanics. Communicating and marketing to
the Hispanic consumer requires relevant messages delivered in cultural
contexts that will resonate.
Based on a Nielsen/E-Poll analysis of sports celebrities conducted
among Hispanic consumers in 2012, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers
and Eli Manning all received “Hall of Fame” scores meaning they
represent the top football personalities to resonate with Hispanic
consumers. In addition, a Nielsen’s analysis of over 7000 multicultural
ads, shows that the most effective English language ads for Hispanic
consumers where those featuring families.
These insights will help marketers tee up the best messaging and
advertising to reach and resonate with Hispanic consumers who
increasingly enjoy American football.
Has the NFL edged out fútbol? It could be a matter of acculturation,
but the truth is that while the NFL has certainly made in-roads, and in
small segments it is more popular, soccer still dominates. Both football
and soccer matter to American Hispanics, and those that watch it prefer
fútbol in Spanish. While the share is dominated by Mexican American
Hispanics, there is a healthy share of Hispanics of South and Central
American origin, to which different messaging is required.

12. ABOUT NIELSEN
Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and
measurement company with leading market positions in marketing
and consumer information, television and other media measurement,
online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related
properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with
headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.
Copyright © 2013 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen
and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C. Other product and service names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
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For further information and insights,
please contact:
Media Insights - Trini Monistere, Sr. Research
Coordinator, Nielsen
maria.monistere@nielsen.com
Multicultural Insights - Eva Gonzalez,
Executive Director, Diverse Consumer Insights.
eva.gonzalez@nielsen.com