For the third time, ESPN Deportes will air the Super Bowl in Spanish. On Monday, ESPN announced that it had acquired the rights to February’s Super Bowl LV from Tampa, which will air on CBS in English.

Additionally, ESPN has also acquired the rights to the AFC Championship and one AFC Divisional playoff game. Incredibly, this will be the first time that an AFC Championship game will have a Spanish language broadcast in the US.

The prior two Super Bowls to air on ESPN Deportes came in 2016 and 2019. Not coincidentally, those were the last two Super Bowls to air on CBS. Fox’s Super Bowls have aired in Spanish on Fox Deportes, while NBC’s have aired on Universo.

This isn’t the insertion into the Super Bowl rotation that ESPN has long desired for ABC (that won’t come until the next round of rights deals closes), but it’s still a nice get. The extra two playoff games also will be welcomed, especially the AFC Championship. I can’t believe that note about the game never being aired in Spanish in America. That feels like a giant missed opportunity for years on end.

[ESPN]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.