Univision Deportes Announces First English-language Broadcast Team, New MLS Highlight Show

Univision Deportes unveiled their broadcast teams for the upcoming 2015 MLS season, including the English-language on-air talent who will deliver every match in English via SAP beginning with Friday’s season opener between the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire (10 pm ET,  UniMás and simulcast on UDN).

Former MLS star and US national team legend Paul Caligiuri will join play-by-play announcer Ramsés Sandoval on the Univision Deportes English-language SAP broadcasts, which will also be available via online stream at UnivisionDeportes.com.

Univision Deportes will be on-site for all 36 MLS regular season matches on the network with every game airing during an exclusive national TV window on Friday nights. Viernes de Futbol(Friday Night Soccer) kicks off with the opening match of the MLS campaign on Friday and a special guest appearance by MLS legend Landon Donovan. It marks the first time that a major American sports league launches a season exclusively on the network.

For the Spanish-language broadcasts on Univision Deportes, the network will tap into a large stable of veteran soccer experts, many of whom have covered MLS in recent years like Jorge Pérez Navarro, Diego Balado, José Luis López Salido, Raúl Guzmán, Iván Kasanzew, Jorge Calvo and former MLSer Marcelo Balboa.

But Univision Deportes isn’t stopping with match coverage. The network also announced a new weekly Sunday night one-hour highlight show called “Somos MLS” (We Are MLS), which will also feature guest appearances by MLS players and coaches. The first episode airs March 8.

The first Viernes de Futbol broadcast of the LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire season opener kicks off an eight-year partnership between MLS and Univision announced last year.

The two entities have already partnered on a new-look FutbolMLS.com, the league’s Spanish-language site, which is now housed on the UnivisionDeportes.com platform.