Argentina-Spain Game May Be “Greatest World Cup Final Ever”, NBCUniversal Telemundo Exec Says

For the Spanish-language audience, Sunday’s showdown between Argentina and Spain could be “the greatest World Cup final ever,” as one senior NBCUniversal Telemundo exec sees it.

Miguel Lorenzo, SVP of Sports Content for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, told Deadline the matchup has a number of elements capable of propelling ratings to one last record at the end of a barnburner tournament.

“It’s teams that have two massive followings that have tremendous history,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt that for Argentina, arguably the greatest player of all time [Lionel Messi] is playing in that match. And he himself, whether he was Argentine or Spanish or any other nationality, he would attract a huge following because of just how awesome he is in his career” at the age of 39.

On the Spanish side is the player widely seen as “the next Messi,” Lamine Yamal, Lorenzo added. Among the other storylines, he said, are the fact that it’s the first-ever Cup final between the defending Cup champion and the reigning European League champion. Both, he noted, were “odds-on favorites” to win the tournament when it began in June.

For both NBCU Telemundo and English rights holder Fox, this World Cup has been a spectacular boost. Helped by an expanded field and the location of games in 16 North American cities in U.S. viewer-friendly time zones, the event has generated a string of new highs for the sport of soccer.

Last week’s semi-final matchups between Spain and France and Argentina and England drew total audiences of 9.8 million and 11.4 million across linear and Peacock, respectively, a record for a Spanish-language World Cup semi-final. Fox’s telecasts, notably, were also records but not much higher, at 11.5 million and 15.1 million, respectively.

The semi-finals were held at 3 p.m. ET / noon PT and not in prime time, despite the U.S. hosting both weekday games. (Sunday’s final will be at that time as well.) The schedule drew criticism on social media, but Lorenzo was more sanguine about the timeslot.

“Certainly, anytime you have something in prime time, it, you know, you have more addressable audience, but when you have incredible matchups, it sometimes supersedes the time,” he said. “People will find a way to make themselves available, whether it’s on their mobile device, whether it’s on TV or connected devices. That’s one of the great things about how, you know, the media has evolved, but now you can really watch this game from any where you are at any time. And ultimately, what’s going to draw people is the matchups, and we’ve had tremendous matchups.”

As far as the production approach to Sunday, Telemundo anticipates having its biggest canvas yet, with correspondents delivering reports and setting the scene from Spain and Argentina. Those elements will complement the analysis and coverage from the East Rutherford, NJ, stadium outside New York City whose sponsor must not be named under FIFA rules. Along with the game, FIFA plans a star-packed halftime show featuring artists like Justin Bieber and Shakira. Jennifer Hudson is slated to sing the anthem and the closing ceremony will feature an unspecified “performance” by Tom Cruise.

Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernández and actress Sofia Vergara will also appear, along with “some other surprises,” Lorenzo said.

In line with the strategy of Telemundo to lean into the individual fan bases of specific countries within the Hispanic diaspora, Lorenzo noted plans for a live watch party during the game with social media influencers partial to Spain and Argentina.

Asked about a recent New York Times article headlined “Argentina Tries to Win Another World Cup. Neighboring Nations Cheer Against It,” Lorenzo said it was “an interesting premise” but not something he sees impeding the ratings momentum.

“It’s a mix,” he said in terms of how Spanish-language viewers see Messi’s squad. “I think there are Hispanics that will always root for a Hispanic country, even if it’s not theirs, because there’s this commonality of, ‘Hey, we’ve got to stick to our own.’ I think there’s also some rivalries, like there are in any sport, and some may not be on the same boat because they consider them rivals.”

Casual fans looking for a metaphor, he added, can look to baseball’s age-old clash between the Yankees and Red Sox, two American Leave foes who compete to be the AL representative in the World Series. “If you’re a Yankees fan, you’re probably never going to root for the Red Sox, but there are some people that in a World Series, they always root for the American League.”