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January 12, 2011

New Interactive Hub Brings Sports Fans into Dialogue with Top Studio Shows

ESPN Deportes announced today the launch of La Conexión (The Connection) creating a centralized platform for Spanish speaking sports fans to interact with ESPN Deportes studio shows with Ford Motor Company as its exclusive media sponsor.  La Conexión brings together fan favorites such as SportsCenter, Fútbol Picante, Juego Cruzado and Jorge Ramos y Su Banda and many more in a new web hub within ESPNDeportes.com.

The web hub will feature the top stories of the day from ESPN Deportes’ most popular programs.  The multimedia platform also features integration across TV and Radio encouraging fans to sound off and interact with ESPN Deportes’ top shows via Facebook, Twitter and mobile text messaging. 

“ESPN Deportes has a longstanding alliance with Ford, and we are thrilled to join forces once again and offer them a unique opportunity to connect with fans,” said Lino Garcia, General Manager for ESPN Deportes. “The eight shows in the platform on average make up over 60% of our weekly programming, and La Conexión offers unprecedented fan interaction with our top talent and shows.”

As part of the comprehensive collaboration, Ford will serve as the exclusive sponsor across the entire La Conexión platform with branding throughout the web hub and its TV and Radio extensions.  The TV executions include the integration of exclusive segments presented by Ford within the studio shows driving fans to the web hub and encouraging participating via social media.

“Ford is excited to be providing Latino sports enthusiasts with an opportunity to connect and engage with their favorite sports announcers and programming on ESPN Deportes,” said Dave Rodriguez, Multicultural Marketing, Ford Motor Company. “Sports is a major passion point for our customers, and there aren’t many outlets available for Latinos to express that passion and their thoughts directly with their favorite sports personalities. With ESPN Deportes, Ford is providing a one-of-its kind, innovative forum that will allow these voices to be heard”.

This new initiative will feature La Conexión segments within ESPN Deportes eight studio shows highlighting comments from fans and including them in the debate.  These segments presented by Ford, and coordinated by Hispanic Agency of Record, Zubi Advertising, will air more than 30 times every week across the various studio shows.  In addition, the radio executions include regular promotion within ESPN Deportes Radio across the nation to help drive fans to get into the conversation.

La Conexión is live and available at: www.espndeportes.com/laconexion. 

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About ESPN Deportes

ESPN Deportes is the leading multimedia, Spanish-language sports brand dedicated to providing the widest variety of sports to the U.S. Hispanic sports fan via television, online, print, radio and wireless. Sports media assets include ESPN Deportes television which offers unparalleled Spanish-language sports programming, featuring more than 1,400 live and/or original hours of sports programming presented annually; ESPN Deportes Radio, the only around-the-clock Spanish-language sports radio network in the U.S., and currently available in 10 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic radio markets and also distributed on SIRIUS Satellite Radio; ESPN Deportes La Revista, the first general sports Spanish-language magazine in the U.S.; ESPNdeportes.com, the #1 Spanish-language sports Web site among Spanish-preferred fans in the U.S.; and ESPN Deportes Wireless, the brand’s  emerging business which offers Spanish-language sports content to fans to text message enabled phones.