Goooooooooooooooootcha! The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) says it has closed down one of the biggest illegal live soccer streaming rings. That comes only a couple of weeks before the FIFA World Cup — soccer’s version of that other football's playoffs and Super Bowl — which begins November 20 in Qatar.

ACE says the shutdown affected futbollibre.net and televisionlibre.net as well as more than three dozen additional associated domains.

It says that the shuttered domains collectively had received a staggering 300-plus million visits in the past six months alone, with most of that traffic coming from Argentina. Those domains are now under ACE's control and visitors are being redirected to its site, Watch Legally, which as its name suggests, informs them where content can be legally accessed.

According to ACE, Futbolibre (literally “free soccer”) has had a reputation for illegally streaming live matches from leagues including UEFA Champions League, La Liga, and the Argentine Professional Soccer League.

Also: FIFA Kicks Up New Digital Service

“The successful takedown of this major sports piracy ring marks significant progress as ACE expands its live-tier operations and efforts to combat illegal sports piracy,” said ACE head Jan van Voorn, executive VP and chief of global content protection for the Motion Picture Association.

ACE board members comprise Amazon, Apple TV Plus, NBCUniversal, Netflix Studios LLC, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. ■

Distributors of live sports programming need to be willing to play on both linear and digital TV platforms in an effort to effectively reach sports fans and maximize revenue opportunities, according to executives speaking at the Next TV Summit.

With live sports programming continuing to drive ratings for linear broadcast and cable channels, executives speaking at the “Live Sports: The Last Unbundle?” panel Tuesday — part of NYC TV Week — said that high-profile sports events will not aggressively migrate to streaming services in the near future. That doesn’t mean that streaming services aren’t a suitable and lucrative destination for live sports programming in an effort to reach cord-cutting sports fans.

“There will continue to be this hybrid; there’s not going to be a single solution for any league or broadcaster,” FIFA Plus head of audience Laura Andriani said. “I think there’s going to be a figuring out process of what’s best for each proposition.”

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Indeed, Bally Sports chief product officer Michael Allen said that while the company offers live, compelling pro sports programming through its 19 linear-based regional sports networks, later this month it will launch Bally Sports Plus, a subscription digital service that will allow consumers to purchase content from their respective regional networks outside of traditional MVPDs and satellite distributors.

“We see Bally Plus as complementary to what’s already in the market,” he said. “If [customers] are cord-cutters or cord-nevers, we now provide a new way in which they can consume this content.”

The recently launched free FIFA Plus digital service will offer more than 40,000 live soccer matches from around the world this year as a complement to the World Cup TV rights deal FIFA has with Fox Sports through 2026. Andriani says the streaming service allows the organization to superserve rabid fans with both live and originally produced content that’s translated into 10 different languages.

“Fans want to see different things, so [FIFA Plus] is really a test-and-learn [service],” she said. “There’s a need for FIFA to have a more constant touchpoint with fans, not just every four years [for the World Cup].”

Ultimately, big-ticket sports properties like the NFL, NBA and MLB will continue to have a major presence on broadcast television, but for second-tier sports like rugby, track and field or bowling, the digital platform can provide opportunities for fans to consume content from their favorite sports, according to FloSports VP of global operations Michael Levy. The FloSports subscription streaming service offers more than 200,000 live sports events across more than 25 sports.

“I see an ongoing conversion of tier-1 sports-TV rights going to the biggest players in the market, and I see more and more of that tier-2 sports-league rights being underserved and set aside,“ he said. ”Someone is going to have to fill that void.” ■ 

World soccer organization FIFA has launched a new digital platform that is expected to stream the equivalent of 40,000 live games in 2022.

The free ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) FIFA Plus service, which will be available across all web and mobile devices in five languages — English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish — will stream 1,400 matches monthly taken from 100 member associations across all six soccer confederations, including 11,000 women’s matches, according to the organization.  

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 — which will be televised in the U.S. by Fox Sports and Telemundo — FIFA Plus will feature every past FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup match on film, totaling more than 2,000 hours of archived content. Overall, the FIFA Plus archive will launch with more than 2,500 videos dating back to the 1950s, with many more to come throughout the year.

In addition, FIFA Plus will also provide full-length documentaries, docuseries, talk shows and shorts in 11 languages, telling stories from the local grassroots to national teams and of footballing heroes past and present from more than 40 countries, FIFA said.

“FIFA Plus represents the next step in our vision to make football truly global and inclusive, and it underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023. It will accelerate the democratization of football and we are delighted to share it with fans.” ▪️

The Justice Department has signed off on the first $32.3 million tranche of over $200 million in forfeited funds to FIFA and others from widespread corruption in the securing of TV and other media and marketing rights for international soccer.

Justice said well over that initial amount has been seized as part of the government's prosecution of that corruption. The money is being remitted to FIFA, the world soccer organizing body; CONCACAF, which oversees soccer in North and Central America; and CONMEBOL, which oversees South America, as well as various other soccer federations.

According to Justice, sports marketing companies paid bribes and kickbacks to soccer officials in exchange for the rights to various tournaments and events.

The $32.3 million is the beginning of the process of getting funds to the victims of the FIFA bribery scandal and out of the hands of the corrupt officials that took it.

“Not one official in this investigation seemed to care about the damage being done to a sport that millions around the world revere," said Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director-in-charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office. "The only silver lining is the money will now help underprivileged people who need it, not the wealthy executives who just wanted it to get richer. Our work isn’t finished, and our promise to those who love the game – we won’t give up until everyone sees justice for what they’ve done.”

This week's initial tranche of money comes from the forfeited assets and stems from a May 2015 indictment of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering, plus a follow-on indictment of even more officials.

Many of the defendants were ordered to forfeit their ill-gotten gains and Justice is authorized to distribute forfeited assets through a remission process to victims of the crimes, including to the soccer organizations defrauded by corrupt executives.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, whose June 2 resignation caused HBO’s Last Week Tonight host John Oliver to chug a Bud Light Lime on air in fulfillment of a promise, has apparently gone back on his word. According to Swiss newspaper Blick, Blatter hinted that he could run for the FIFA presidency in December.

“Only those who know the past can understand the present and shape the future,” Blatter said at a function at a new FIFA museum in Zurich, according to Blick. “I have not resigned, but made my mandate available at an extraordinary congress.”

That last part refers to Blatter’s comments on June 2 when he said he would “lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective congress,” where he would no longer be a candidate. It has been expected that the new vote would occur sometime in December. 

FIFA is slated to meet on July 22 to determine the exact date of the election. According to CNN, a FIFA spokesperson told the network that Blatter will not be among the candidates and that his comments only meant that he intended to remain FIFA president until the new elections.

Blatter has been at the center of a massive corruption scandal at the soccer body. After a series of raids by U.S. authorities in Switzerland, Blatter bowed to pressure and said he would step down as FIFA chief just days after he was re-elected to a fifth consecutive term. But the former FIFA chief has been known to go back on his word. According to CNN, he said after he was elected to his fourth term in 2011 that it would be his last. He ran again in 2015.   

Oliver, who has been an outspoken critic of FIFA and Blatter, had promised on air that he would drink a Bud Light (which he previously compared to a puddle underneath a dumpster at a Long John Silver fast food restaurant), take a bite out of every item on McDonald’s $1 Menu and wear a particularly outrageous line of Adidas sneakers (all FIFA sponsors) if they would play a role in Blatter’s ouster. While neither of the sponsors actually forced Blatter to resign, Oliver fulfilled his promise during the June 7 broadcast of the show.* to check*

Newly re-elected FIFA president Sepp Blatter said at a Tuesday news conference he will resign and called for a new election amid a growing corruption scandal that had prompted World Cup sponsors to urge reforms and, by extension, worried worldwide TV rights holders including Fox and Telemundo in the United States.

“FIFA needs a profound restructuring,” Blatter said at the Zurich, Switzerland, news conference, The New York Times and other outlets reported.

Blatter’s decision comes just days after he won re-election as president of the soccer’s international governing body. At a press conference in Zurich, Switzerland, he said a lack of support from fans and clubs forced his hand.  

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football -- the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," Blatter said at the Zurich press conference which was aired over ESPN.

Blatter has endured an avalanche of criticism from the press and from sponsors over the growing scandal, which has resulted in the arrest of 14 FIFA officials so far. U.S. federal prosecutors in Brooklyn brought charges Monday against 14 soccer officials and marketing executives accused of corrupting soccer’s international governing body. A series of arrests were made in Switzerland and prosecutors have said more indictments could be coming.

On Monday, the New York Times reported that one FIFA official -- Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s secretary general and Blatter’s second in command – had made $10 million in bank transactions central to the scandal. According to the Times, that money was used for bribes to Valcke and others for selecting South Africa as the 2010 site for the World Cup. The Swiss government also is reportedly looking into the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup, which was awarded to Russia.

The selection of the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Qatar as the site of the 2022 World Cup, and reports that hundreds of migrant workers have died building facilities for the event, have added to the controversy.

But the final nail in Blatter’s 16-year tenure as head of FIFA may have been the growing dissatisfaction by sponsors of the governing body.

According to a May 28 report in the Washington Post, several major sponsors for the World Cup, including Visa, Coca-Cola and Budweiser had issued warnings to coincide with the FIFA Zurich meetings expressing concern over the mounting controversy.

“As a sponsor, we expect FIFA to take swift and immediate steps to address these issues within its organization,” Visa said according to the Post, adding that if FIFA failed to take the appropriate actions the credit card giant would “reassess our sponsorship.”

In a statement Tuesday, Coke said it respected Blatter’s decision to resign, adding that it was a “positive step for football.”

“Our expectation remains that FIFA will continue to act with urgency to take concrete actions to fully address all of the issues that have been raised and win back the trust of all who love the sport of football,” Coke continued. “We believe this decision will help FIFA transform itself rapidly into a much-need 21st century structure and institution.”

While sponsors are beginning to speak up, so far cable networks that carry FIFA matches have been silent.

In 2011, Fox Sports and Telemundo paid an estimated $400 million and $600 million respectively for the English and Spanish language U.S. media rights to the FIFA World Cup between 2015 and 2022. Those deals were extended to 2026 in February. Neither Fox nor Telemundo immediately returned a request for comment.

According to reports, there are several potential replacements for Blatter as FIFA chief, including Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, who lost to Blatter in Friday’s FIFA election. But all cabdidates will have to wait until at least December. FIFA presidential elections require four-month notice, and candidates must be vetted and allowed to present ideas. The voting could take place between December 2015 and March 2016.

Swiss authorities arrested 14 FIFA officials for bribery and corruption charges on Wednesday morning.

The arrests were conducted during an early morning raid at a luxury hotel in Zurich, where the soccer governing body was getting ready to hold its next presidential election.  

The officials will be extradited to the United States on federal corruption charges. Those arrested include two current FIFA VPs and the current and former presidents of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF). FIFA president Sepp Blatter was not among those arrested. 

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a 47-count indictment that charged the 14 defendants (nine FIFA officials, five corporate executives) with racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies, among other offenses, “in connection with the defendants’ participation in a 24-year scheme to enrich themselves through the corruption of international soccer.”

“The indictment alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch. “It spans at least two generations of soccer officials who, as alleged, have abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.

“Many of the individuals and organizations…were entrusted with keeping soccer open and accessible to all,” Lynch added. “They held important responsibilities at every level, from building soccer fields for children in developing countries to organizing the World Cup.  \They were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest, and protect the integrity of the game. Instead, they corrupted the business of worldwide soccer to serve their interests and enrich themselves. This Department of Justice is determined to end these practices; to root out corruption; and to bring wrongdoers to justice."

The full statement from the DOJ can be read here.

The arrests, which came following a three-year investigation, came a few days before the organization was to hold its presidential election. Blatter, who has run FIFA since 1998, is widely expected to win another term, even though his tenure has been riddled with scandal including accusations of corruption and bribery.

Read more at broadcastingcable.com.

As part of its inaugural presentations under its multimedia rights deal with FIFA, NBC Universo will be the home of team USA group stage matches in the upcoming Women’s World Cup from Canada and the men’s U-20 competition from New Zealand.

Telemundo and NBC Universo, the Spanish-language cable network formerly known as mun2,  this year will combine to offer 560 hours of soccer action from those events, as well the Beach Soccer World Cup and U-17 competitions across multiple platforms

Coverage will include 344 hours of online and mobile live-streams making it the first time that all 52 matches of the quartet of FIFA tourneys will be made available in Spanish to a nationwide audience.

“We are proud to be the first media company to offer such a comprehensive coverage of FIFA World Cup events in the United States in Spanish,” said Joe Uva, chairman, Hispanic Enterprises and Content, NBCUniversal. “Starting in May, we will leverage all of our linear and digital platforms to bring to U.S. Hispanics the best soccer in the world presented by an experienced team of talent and professionals with a deep understanding of sports broadcasting and storytelling.”

The men’s U20 World Cup, scheduled from May 29 through June 19, and the 2015 Women’s World Cup from Canada, playing out from June 6 through July 5, are the initial competitions under the $600 million deal Telemundo reached with FIFA and covers competitions through 2022.

“This is a unique opportunity for Telemundo, NBC Universo and their digital platforms to provide unprecedented Spanish-language coverage of these FIFA events for our viewers,” said Eli Velazquez, executive vice president of sports at Hispanic Enterprises and Content, NBCUniversal.

Four days after the FIFA Women’s World Cup champion is decided, the men’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, hosted by Portugal, will take place from July 9 to July 19. It will be followed by the final FIFA World Cup competition of 2015 featuring U-17 national teams, which will take the pitch in Chile from Oct. 17 to Nov, 8.

Schedules for the Beach Soccer and U-17 tourney have not been finalized as qualifying continues, according to executives.

Last month, Telemundo and Fox Sports, the English-language rights-holder, both added  for an undisclosed amount – sans bidding --the rights to the 2023-26 cycle of FIFA evemts. The last year under that new pact  could include the men’s World Cup here in the States. The extensions were widely construed as a means to appease the parties because the 2022 event from Qatar officially has been moved into November-December period of that year, when it will compete for viewer/fan interest against the American football, basketball and hockey seasons.

"We will go where the games are,” said Velazquez.

He also extended congratulations to France, which will host the 2019 Women’s World Cup.

“The French women's team is really a factor in the group stage and beyond in 2015 in Canada,” said Velazquez. “ Looking to 2019, France is a  more favorable time zone than South Korea.”

After dropping a 2-0 decision to France in a friendly during January, the U.S. turned the tables on Les Bleus by the same score in the final of the prestigious Algarve Cup earlier this month (pictured.).

As to the more immediate futbol business afoot, NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language networks, which supplanted former rights-holder Univision, have released their lineups through the group stage, and will kick similar scheduling game plans into play in May, June and July.

For the under 20 competition, Telemundo will air live 10 matches, including all competitions involving the Mexican national team – three group stage matches --plus two round of 16 matches, a pair of quarterfinals, one semifinal and the championship match. NBC Universo has 21 matches, including the New Zealand-Ukraine opener, all U.S. national team group stage matches, two Mexican team simulcasts, four round of 16 matches, two quarters and one semifinal. It will also encore the title match,

Given 16 hour-time difference to the east coast, Velazquez said the programmer is still mapping its strategy for more encore presentations on NBC Universo.

The presence of Mexican and U.S. teams in the tourney aside, Velasquez believes the presence of Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and other Latino-speaking nations will enable the programmer to appeal to the audiences we “super-serve.”

On the women’s side of the pitch, Telemundo also will air 10 matches, including the tourney opener between the host nation and China, a trio of round-of-16 matches, one quarterfinal match and the final. The cable network, which counts some 40 million subscribers, will feature 21 live matches, including all U.S..group stage matches -- as well as a simulcast of its competition, if it advances to later rounds -- four round-of-16 encounters, two quarters and both semifinals. NBC Univserso will also encore the opening and championship matches.

“We believe it is unique marketing opportunity for NBC Universo to be the home of U.S. women’s soccer during the group stage,” Velazquez.said, noting scheduling may place the team’s matches on Telemundo as the tournament progresses.

Asked to comment about Telemundo/NBC Universo's decision, vis a vis  Fox Sports' call to televise the entirety of the women’s event, in which the second-ranked U.S. is one of the favorites,  Velazquez said NBCU's schedule is “respectful and representative of where the women’s game is, and its growth” over the years.

Taking a page from NBC Sports Group’s playbook, the Hispanic Enterprises and Content unit will place heavy emphasis on letting viewers/users meet and get to know the players and coaches. Velazquez said the programmer, working with attendant federations,  already has sent crews to Latin and South America.

“We’re talking to some of the key athletes and coaches,” said Velazquez. “We want to tell the stories, so people can really start to follow these events and the participants and get invested. in them.”

He believes this approach not only will pay dividends in 2015, but for the rest of the FIFA cycle as it will enable fans to familiarize themselves with the best futbolers to come.

"Somewhere out there are the next Messsi and Ronaldos," said Velazquez.  "The next great players are going to come from these events.”

Before the first ball is rolled out and their initial telecasts delivered, Fox Sports and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo have secured a new cycle of media rights from FIFA, culminating with the 2026 World Cup.

The extensions place the world’s most popular sporting event at the feet of programmers, who will kick off their first round of FIFA action this year with the Women’s World Cup from Canada and youth competitions. Fox and Telemundo unseated the previous rights-holders, ESPN and Univision, which televised the 2014 World Cup from Brazil that set TV and digital records here in the States. Fox and Telemundo paid $400 million and $600 million, respectively, to FIFA for multimedia rights from 2015 through 2022.

Deal terms for the new FIFA cycle were not disclosed, but the prospects are that the 2026 men’s tourney may play out on U.S. soil -- and play to real-time, home screen advantages to the rightsholders.  Some are suggesting that the awarding of Fox and Telemundo to another round of FIFA rights signals that the 2022 competition from Qatar will be moved from the oppressive heat of the desert summer into a winter time frame, when the tourney will vie against American football, and the basketball and hockey seasons for sports' eyeballs. 

The addition of the 2023-26 FIFA cycle by Fox and Telemundo is reminiscent of moves NBC has made over the years whereby it has gained more Olympic rights, without competition from other media companies. Under former sports boss Dick Ebersol, NBC acquired the rights to the 2004, 2006 and 2008 Games. Last spring, Comcast’s programming arm NBCUniversal reached a new multiplatform deal with the International Olympic Committee for rights from 2021 through the Winter Games in 2032, also sans a bidding process.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup aside, the extensions cover the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2023 and 2025, FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024, FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2024 and 2026, FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 and 2026, and FIFA Confederations Cup 2025.

“These agreements guarantee wide distribution for FIFA tournaments across the US and Canada. Together, we will be able to further promote football in North America and build on the impressive interest shown by audiences in these major territories during the 2014 FIFA World Cup,” said FIFA director of TV Niclas Ericson.

Fox offered these comments: “We are truly honored that FIFA has elected to extend FOX Sports’ rights to the portfolio of FIFA events including the  FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup through 2026.  These events are some of the world’s most important sports competitions, and it is our privilege to be entrusted with these rights in the United States.  We’re looking forward to the kick-off of FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in June with great anticipation.”

“We’re very pleased that FIFA allowed us to extend our deal as the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster of FIFA World Cup tournaments through 2026,” said Joe Uva, NBCUniversal's chairman of Hispanic Enterprises and Content. “This unprecedented agreement gives our Telemundo and NBCUniversal viewers and digital consumers more of the world’s best soccer for the next 12 years."

Fox Sports is kicking off its term as the English-language rights-holder in the U.S. to the FIFA 2015-22 cycle with comprehensive coverage of the Women’s World Cup, highlighted by an unprecedented 16 matches on the broadcast network.

The programmer will televise all 52 matches of the expanded, 24-nation tourney across Canada. The 2015 Women's World Cup begins on June 6 with the host nation entertaining China in Edmonton and culminates with the final on July 5 from Vancouver on the broadcast network. Fox Broadcast’s World Cup slate -- the most ever for an over-the-air network in the U.S. regardless of gender --  will also include one of the semifinals and the third-place contest on July 4.

The game plan also calls for 30 matches -- including all eight in the round of 16, a pair of quarterfinals and one semifinal -- to air on Fox Sports 1.The other six games are slated to run on Fox Sports 2.

Eric Shanks, president, COO and executive producer, Fox Sports, said all of tournament action from the six venues will also be available on computers, tablets and mobile devices via the Fox Sports GO app and online at FoxSportsGO.com.

Fox’s schedule marks a major step up for the Women’s World Cup, which will be televised in Spanish on Telemundo and NBC Universo, officially converting from mun2 on Feb. 1 The previous five FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments – 16 teams were in the hunt -- were televised on ESPN/ESPN2/ABC. The 1999, 2007 and 2011 competitions featured 16 teams  and 32 televised matches, while 18 matches aired from the 2003 tourney. Six matches aired in 1995, which like the first event four years earlier, only pitted 12 nations. The 1991 tournament, won by the U.S., which backed up that feat with its transcendent 1999 victory in the Rose Bowl via penalty kicks over China, was not televised Stateside. 

ABC last broadcast FIFA Women’s World Cup matches in 2003, carrying three. ABC combined to air seven WWC matches during the three quadrennials from 1995 to 2003.

In addition to match coverage, Fox Sports will line up pregame, postgame and other related programming over the course of the month-long event. Averaging somewhere between six and seven hours per day, the programmer expects to serve up some 200 hours.

The field, which has expanded from 16 to 24 teams and from 32 to 52 matches, is headed by the United States, FIFA’s top-ranked team, defending champion Japan, two-time WWC winner Germany, and Brazil, home to the inimitable Marta.

The Americans’ passage from the group stage is hardly assured. Other Group D members include No. 5 Sweden and No. 10 Australia. Rounding out the so-called Group of Death is Africa’s top side, Nigeria, which stands 35th in FIFA’s rankings.

Distaff futbol aside, Fox is also scheduled to present FIFA under 17 and 20 competitions, as well as beach soccer championships in 2015.  

Earlier in the day, Fox announced that longtime ESPN soccer commentator Alexi Lalas would join its futbol telecast team in the new year.

Alexi Lalas is changing broadcast kits as Fox Sports kicks off its FIFA cycle coverage in 2015.

The former U.S. men's national team defender and long-time commentator for ESPN/ABC's futbol coverage will join Fox Sports next month to serve as both a studio and game analyst.

Lalas will be on the beat for FIFA broadcasts, which kick off with the Women's World Cup from Canada and under 17 and 20 men's events in 2015,  as well as UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, England’s FA Cup, Major League Soccer, USMNT matches and UEFA European Championship qualifiers.

“I am really thrilled to join Fox Sports and work on the terrific lineup of soccer properties they’ve assembled over the last few years," said Lalas. “I’ve been impressed with the quality and depth of Fox’s soccer coverage and I’m excited to contribute to the overall effort and help grow the sport I love.”

Lalas joins Fox's soccer side that includes host Rob Stone, Warren Barton and former USMNT teammates Eric Wynalda and Brad Friedel.

While the transformation won’t officially occur until Super Bowl Sunday, NBCUniversal’s Hispanic cable network mun2 today said it is rebranding to NBC Universo.

The 40-million subscriber network, which will present the exclusive Spanish-language telecast of Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, 2015, has unveiled its new name and logo, tying into NBC’s iconic peacock symbol and brand. The rebranding was first mentioned during the Telemundo/mun2 upfront presentation to advertisers in New York last May. 

As a general-entertainment service, NBC Universo will present top sports from around the globe, and feature high-quality entertainment, music, series and storytelling aimed at making emotional connections with U.S. Hispanics.

Rubén Mendiola, president of mun2, said the name change not only underlines the network's affiliation with NBC, but is in step with the Hispanic evolution in the U.S.

“The name mun2 is of two worlds: The part of the Latino community rooted in its heritage, as well as those assimilated to English and American culture. NBC Universo is more reflective of the wider world today and the choices it offers to Latinos. It’s much broader, a universe,” he said.

Joe Uva, chairman, Hispanic enterprises and content at NBCUniversal, said the transformation of mun2, which recently became available in the high-definition format, is one of the company’s top priorities. NBC Universo will have “greater appeal to viewers, advertisers and MPVDs. Distributors will value the network more as it offers high-profile programming and sporting events."

Mendiola said research revealed that current moniker didn’t evoke connections in the minds of viewers to NBC Universal and its iconic, cable brands like USA, E!, Bravo and NBCSN. “We want to be part of that group,” he said.

Noting that the switch is the result of extensive research among focus groups, online panels and other methodologies, Uva said there “isn’t any brand equivalent of a USA Network for Hispanics.” He said the research indicates Latinos will be drawn to culturally relevant general-entertainment programming.

Both executives talked up the network’s tentpole sports – a five-game NFL package, capped by the championship contest; 550 hours of FIFA fare it will share next summer with broadcast brethren Telemundo; a major jump in ratings for Barclays Premier League soccer; the bow of a full season of NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series in 2015; wrestling action via WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown, and the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio de Janiero.

Mendiola said the network’s sports coverage is being informed by one of NBC's hallmarks: storytelling. "We want to take that aspect and make it culturally relevant to Latinos.”

He lauded the job NBC does with letting people get to know the athletes that compete in the quadrennials.  “Our goal is to do what NBC has done with the Olympics and move that to other sports," he said, noting that process is already underway with its BPL coverage and that the game plan calls for similar tactics during the upcoming FIFA run as players progress from the U17 and  U20 squads to ultimately attaining senior national team stature.

On the entertainment side, NBC Universo will continue to present music videos and build on A Toda Gloria, which provides with an all-access look into the life of international Latin music icon Gloria Trevi, both on- and off-stage.

Neither executive, though, would provide detailed programming specifics, which may be conveyed during the TCA winter press tour. There were hints, however.

Uva said that he hopes the rebranded service will continue to appeal to its bilingual, millennial base via sports fare and action programming, while broadening its audience overall with a more diversified programming lineup.

Mendiola said NBC Universo's target will be 18 to 34, with the audience pushing toward the 18-to-49 set. He said the programming will be "edgier than what you see on broadcast" and those sensibilities will be built into the series and movies that the network acquires and has in development.

While sports will air in Spanish – that’s where the network holds the rights – entertainment and other programming will be conveyed in the appropriate language, depending on genre and daypart. “ We want it to be organic,” Uva said.

Mendiola said much work lies ahead over the next 90 days or so before the rebrand on Super Bowl Sunday, but he's confident viewers will like what they see as NBC Universo moves to super-serve Hispanics.

“We’re very serious about the positioning, the new look and logo,” he said. “It’s going to be something that Latinos have not had before.”

With four FIFA tourneys on tap in 2015, Telemundo and mun2 will devote some 550 hours to the events, including the Women’s World Cup, covering 188 matches.

The competitions will unfold on four continents and mark the first manifestations of the $600 million rights deal Telemundo/mun2 struck with FIFA back in October 2011, when it outbid long-time incumbent Univision for Spanish-language media rights from 2015-2022. Fox spent some $400 million for the English-language rights to the cycle, unseating ESPN.

Specific schedules were not revealed, owing in part to draws. For instance, the groups and matchups for the Women’s World Cup in Canada will not be divulged until Dec. 6. In 2011, Japan (pictured) topped the U.S. on penalties to win the title in Frankfurt, Germany.

Match coverage will be led by commentator Andres Cantor, along with Sammy Sadovnik and former players Carlos Hermosillo and Manuel Sol.

“We are proud to see the first tangible manifestation of this major acquisition, which will bring unprecedented exposure for Telemundo and mun2,” said Joe Uva, chairman of Hispanic enterprises and content at NBCUniversal. “And offer a unique opportunity to accelerate audience growth and consolidate our position in the industry.”

In addition to the WWC, which will play out north of the border among 24 sides -- up from 16 in previous quadrennials -- and 52 matches, Telemundo/mun2 will also showcase beach soccer and a pair of youth soccer tourneys.

Like the WWC, the FIFA under-20 and under-17 events will showcase 24 teams over 52 matches in New Zealand from May 30 through June 20 and Chile from Oct. 17 through Nov. 8, respectively. These are biennial competitions.

Similarly, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup has been played every two years since 2005. After Russia won the most recent competition in Tahiti, the 2015 event – 16, five-player teams will meet over 32 games --  will be staged in Portugal from July 9-19.