NWSL leads the way in marketing to Latinx fans in the U.S.

The GIST: With the popularity of sports like soccer and baseball throughout Latin America, men’s sports leagues like La Liga and MLB are investing heavily in marketing toward Latinx fans in the U.S. It’s also a strategy the NWSL and franchises with sizable Latinx communities like L.A.’s Angel City FC have been in on since the get-go. Vamos.

Men’s sports: Top Spanish men’s soccer flight La Liga partnered with McDonald’s last Wednesday to empower Latinx communities through exposure to the beautiful game, offering free, week-long youth soccer camps across the U.S. Plus, 12 lucky players will even win a trip to Spain to train and watch a La Liga game.

• And many MLB stars hail from Latin America: 24.2% percent of its 949 players were born in Latin America, with nearly half coming from the Dominican Republic. To celebrate the impact Latinx players have on baseball, MLB debuted a new fan-centric campaign last week featuring top stars speaking Spanish and English.

NWSL efforts: Last summer, the NWSL launched its first-ever Spanish-language broadcast with Central American broadcaster Tigo. This summer, the women’s soccer league will kick off its Summer Cup with Liga MX Femenil teams, which will broadcast in English on CBS and in Spanish on Univision’s TUDN and NWSL+.

• On a club level, Angel City FC is one team that has leaned into its Latinx fanbase. Nearly half of Angelenos speak Spanish at home, and its 1.8M Hispanic/Latinx residents are the largest ethnic demographic in the city.

• Angel City nods to its multicultural background throughout its team branding — the club’s motto is “volemos” and its iconic pink is dubbed “sol rosa.” Angel City’s dedicated fan group is also called La Fortaleza and helps fill up its home stadium with 19K fans on average.

Zooming out: The Latinx community comprises about 20% of the U.S. population and is responsible for $3.2T in GDP, yet they’ve been a woefully neglected marketing demographic. The sports world is starting to recognize the opportunity here, but soccer’s been engaged long before other leagues caught on. Time to play catch up.