Fox Deportes said it has purchased long-term Spanish-language rights in the U.S. for Liga MX teams Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente (Xolos) and Club Santos Laguna (Santos). 

“We are excited to have two Liga MX teams back on our network,” Fox Deportes executive vice president and general manager Carlos Sanchez said in a statement. “Soccer performs extremely well in Hispanic households, so adding Mexican soccer to our ever-expanding portfolio was a priority for us. We are looking forward to working with top-notch organizations - Santos Laguna and Club Tijuana – and offering viewers Liga MX matches.”

Related: Univision Deportes Nets Broadcast Rights for 18 Liga MX Matches

Under the terms of the global deal, Fox Deportes broadcasts all Xolos and Santos Liga MX and Copa MX home matches, international and friendly matches in Spanish in the United States, while Fox Sports Latin America will broadcast games in Mexico and across Latin America. In addition to linear offerings, Fox Deportes provides digital coverage on Fox Sports GO and across its social media platforms. The network will begin broadcasting Xolos matches in July 2018 and Santos matches in July 2019.

“We are delighted to partner with Fox Deportes in the United States and Fox Sports in Latin America to offer viewers unrivalled coverage of our matches,” Xolos president Jorgealberto Hank said in a statement.

Fox Deportes is home to multiple premier soccer properties including the UEFA Champions League, Bundesliga, Major League Soccer, FIFA Club World Cup, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. 

“The 2019 season will mark a new beginning for us,” Club Santos Laguna president Alejandro Irarragorri said in a statement. “Partnering with a global brand like Fox provides exposure across Fox Deportes and Fox Sports Mexico and Latin America, and we can’t wait to begin this new era.”

Univision Deportes said it has secured rights for all 18 Liga MX teams for the 2017-2018 season, making the multimedia sports division of Univision Communications the sole destination for fans of all of the clubs in the Mexican soccer league.

Liga MX, which according to Univision is the most watched soccer league in the U.S., regardless of language, consists of clubs América, Atlas, Cruz Azul, Guadalajara, León, Monterrey, Morelia, Necaxa, Pachuca, Puebla, Querétaro, Santos Laguna, Tijuana, Toluca, UANL, UNAM, Veracruz and the recently added, Lobos BUAP.

The distribution deal includes live broadcast on Univision Deportes’ television and radio platforms in major markets in the U.S. as well as digital platforms across the country. The deal builds on what already has been a strong relationship between Univision Deportes and Liga MX – the network's highly-rated “Sábado Futbolero” Saturday prime time offering was co-developed with the league.

“We are thrilled to welcome Liga MX’s Lobos BUAP to our extensive Univision Deportes soccer portfolio,” said Univision Deportes president Juan Carlos Rodríguez in a statement. “Fanáticos across the country have made us their go-to destination for sports entertainment and our commitment to bringing them the best and most popular teams, players and content across all platforms, is stronger than ever and solidifies us at the home of soccer in the U.S.”

Related: Hispanic-Focused Nets Bulk Up Soccer Choices

Rights to Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, known as Lobos BUAP, were secured during the mid-2017 season – as well as games played by the other 17 powerhouse teams – through Liga MX’s 2017/18 Apertura and Clausura tournaments.

Fans can join the conversation on Twitter via @UnivisionSports , Facebook.com/UnivisionDeportes and Instagram via @UnivisionDeportes. Liga MX matches will be available via the Univision Deportes app for which authentication is required: fans are encouraged to download the app for iOS and/or Android. Liga MX matches will also be available online via UnivisionDeportes.com, Univision’s livestreaming platform Univision Now as well as Univision Deportes’ national sports radio network, Univision Deportes Radio.

Comcast and Univision have put a deal in the back of the distribution net for the U.S. Spanish-language media leader’s cable sports network.

Beginning in October, Comcast will make Univision Deportes Network available to a wide swath of its customer base through carriage on its Digital Preferred package and Xfinity Latino levels of service.

With the long-term contract, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Univision Deportes Network will add upward of 12 million Xfinity customers and boost its subscriber base past the 52 million mark. When the futbol-centric UDN bows next month on Comcast systems, the service, which kicked off in 2012, will have positions with all 10 of the nation’s top distributors.

A spokesman for Comcast, whose NBCUniversal programming arm’s Telemundo and mun2 are competitors to Univision’s varied services, said negotiations have been taking place over the past year and the patties finally reached terms that makes sense for its subscribers.

Comcast’s Hispanic distribution platform delivers more than 60 Latino networks in both Spanish and English to Xfinity TV customers. UDN will be available in standard-definition and Comcast’s largest Hispanic markets, which include New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Sacramento, Albuquerque, Fresno, Denver and El Paso, will begin receiving the channel in high-definition by year-end.

Although the launch comes after the 2014 World Cup – UDN became Univision’s de facto service for the FIFA competition during the months of June and July – the sports service still serves up an array of futbol fare, topped by action from Mexico’s top circuit, Liga MX.

Additionally, UDN, which ranks as the top Spanish-language cable sports network in primetime and total-day, presents Mexican national soccer team matches, as well as action from Major League Soccer, the Copa MX and CONCACAF Champions League circuits. It also covers Formula 1 racing and boxing, while keeping tabs on the NFL, NBA and MLB.

“Univision Deportes Network offers terrific programming and will be a great addition to our growing lineup of networks for Hispanic customers,” said Marcien Jenckes, executive vice president, consumer services at Comcast Cable.  “Comcast is already the nation’s largest provider of Latino packages and we’re excited to add UDN’s wide range of sports programming for our Xfinity TV customers."

“We are pleased to expand the reach of UDN and our popular sports content through this deal with Comcast,” said Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of sports, Univision Communications. “This partnership speaks to the growing influence of Hispanics and underscores Univision’s position as the gateway to a growing and increasingly influential consumer base.”

Leon pushed Pachuca in the second period of extra time to win the Mexico’s first division Clausura tournament on Sunday night and UniMas/Univision Deportes topped Telemundo/mun2 in the ratings for the two matches between the clubs.

UniMas and Univision Deportes Network's May 18 simulcast of the Liga MX Clausara averaged 2.5 million viewers from 8:52 p.m. to 11:43 p.m. that night, according to Nielsen data. That made it the most-viewed club soccer match on any U.S. network in 2014, besting Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Major League Soccer action, among others, according to officials at network parent, Univision Communications.  There was no breakdown between networks, with all of the viewership attributed to UniMas.

Leon’s 2-0 win, which gave them the Clausara title on aggregate, tallied 4.7 million viewers who saw some portion of the match, while averaging 1.6 million adults 18 to 49.

Sunday’s deliveries surpassed the 1.73 million viewers Telemundo garnered with its May 15 coverage of the opening leg of the two-game set that was won by Pachuca 3-2, which had stood as the most-watched Liga MX 2014 playoff matchup. That total included 991,000 of the abovementioned demos.

In addition, mun2’s simulcast in Spanish, delivering an additional 192,000 total viewers and 172,000 adults 18 to 49.

With Liga MX rights in the U.S., the networks telecast the home-team matches.

Starting next season, Telemundo holds the rights to both Leon and Pachuca, while Univision, which has scored the top ratings for all club soccer in the U.S. with its Liga MX coverage, will air the home matches from the circuit’s 16 other clubs.