Live and Exclusive Spanish-Language Coverage of Copa Santander Libertadores Returns to Fox Sports en Espanol

Live and Exclusive Spanish-Language Coverage of Copa Santander Libertadores Returns to Fox Sports en Espanol

Latin America's Most Prestigious Tournament Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary on Redesigned Fox Sports en Espanol Network

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Fox Sports en Espanol announced today the return of the Copa Santander Libertadores, the most prestigious soccer championship in Latin America which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. The tournament will commemorate its half-century history with the tagline "50 Years of Passion," and will coincide with the launch of a brand-new logo and graphic design package for Fox Sports en Espanol, the first and largest Spanish-language sports network in the U.S. Fox Sports en Espanol's live and exclusive game coverage begins on January 27th with the first preliminary round match, featuring Ecuador's Club El Nacional and Paraguay's Club Nacional. The tournament encompasses 138 matches over a six-month span, culminating in the two-leg final on the 1st and 8th of July.

The Copa Santander Libertadores, a fixture in Fox Sports en Espanol's lineup since 2002, features 38 clubs from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. All matches will be telecast exclusively live in Spanish on Fox Sports en Espanol. Headlining the roster are Mexico's most storied teams, including the InterLiga(TM) champions, the Chivas of Guadalajara, Club Pachuca and San Luis.

"Fox Sports en Espanol is honored to bring its loyal audience exclusive and live coverage of the most coveted club soccer tournament in the continent," said David Sternberg, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Fox Sports en Espanol. "We are also thrilled to celebrate the Cup's 50th anniversary, with the extra intensity and passion that it will bring to the competition."

Acclaimed commentator Raul Orvananos will perform play-by-play duties for all matches involving the Mexican teams; additional commentators will be announced at a later date.

Network Juggernaut

2008 was a year of many milestones for Fox Sports en Espanol: it reached 5 million Hispanic households nationwide, launched in over 100 new affiliate systems and doubled its integrated sales revenue. Furthermore, the network experienced enormous success with its core programming franchise, the Copa Santander Libertadores, which experienced ratings growth of 35% in Hispanic adults 18 - 49 from the previous year. 2009 has kicked off with the largest audience in the history of the channel, peaking at 1.5 million viewers for a Chivas vs. Club America match in the InterLiga(TM) tournament.

"We continue to be the most popular and widely distributed Spanish- language sports platform in the U.S., due to a relentless commitment to our viewers, providing them with the exclusive and action-packed coverage they've come to expect from us," affirmed Sternberg.

"One-Stop Media," the network's integrated advertising sales department, has seen the loyalty of its long-standing advertiser Toyota build on the success of its 2007 Cannes Silver Media Lion award, by renewing its sponsorship of the Fox Sports en Espanol broadcast of the Copa Santander Libertadores for 2009.

"Toyota's reinvestment in our network demonstrates their commitment to excellence by placing advertising dollars within the network's creative new extensions in 2009, which reach their demographic in a targeted and integrated way, and deliver a solid ROI," said Tom Maney, Senior Vice President of advertising sales for the network.

As the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores begins this week, Fox Sports en Espanol will launch an extensive overhaul of its corporate brand, providing a fresher look and feel to coincide with its renewed dedication to staying on the forefront of innovation and the latest trends. Fox Sports en Espanol viewers will experience a more interactive brand that will further ignite their passion and loyalty towards the channel. Fans will also be able to interact with the new brand through various consumer touch points including internet, wireless and print.

The redesign of the Fox Sports en Espanol brand, along with its exclusive sports programming and high production values, will further solidify the network's competitive advantage. Fox Sports en Espanol has positioned itself as a major player in the digital space and will continue to deliver relevant content across platforms to loyal Spanish speaking sports fans in 2009.

Copa Santander Libertadores Preliminary Round Schedule
Time
Date Game (EST)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 EL NACIONAL (ECU) v NACIONAL (PAR) 5:00 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 U.DE CHILE (CHI) v PACHUCA (MEX) 5:00 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 IND MEDELLIN (COL) v PENAROL (URU) 9:00 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 SP.CRISTAL (PERU) v ESTUDIANTES (ARG) 3:00 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 PALMEIRAS (BRA) v REAL POTOSI (BOL) 5:30 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 ANZOATEGUI (VEN) v CUENCA (ECU) 9:00 PM
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 PENAROL (URU) v IND MEDELLIN (COL) 6:00 PM
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 CUENCA (ECU) v ANZOATEGUI (VEN) 8:30 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2009 ESTUDIANTES (ARG) v SP.CRISTAL (PER) 5:30 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2009 PACHUCA (MEX) v U.DE CHILE (CHI) 8:00 PM
Thursday, February 05, 2009 REAL POTOSI (BOL) v PALMEIRAS (BRA) 1:30 AM
Thursday, February 05, 2009 NACIONAL (PAR) v EL NACIONAL (ECU) 6:00 PM

For a complete schedule of Fox Sports en Espanol's exclusive telecasts of the Copa Santander Libertadores, please visit the network's website at www.foxsportsla.msn.com.

About Fox Sports en Espanol

Fox Sports en Espanol features more than 1,600 hours of live, exclusive sports programming in Spanish and, with few exceptions, English SAP each year, including InterLiga(TM), the Copa Santander Libertadores, the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, and the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournaments; the Major League Baseball regular season, League Championship Series, All-Star Game and World Series; and premier combat sports including championship boxing from Mexico and the U.S., Ultimate Fighting Championship(R) and kickboxing. The channel reaches more than 14.4 million cable and satellite households in the country, of which over 5 million are U.S. Hispanic Households.

Fox Sports en Espanol is distributed by Fox Cable Networks Group and operated by Fox Pan American Sports LLC, an international sports programming and production entity jointly owned by HM Capital Partners, LLC and News Corporation's (NYSE:NWS) Fox Sports International. For more information, visit Fox Sports en Espanol online at foxsportsla.msn.com.

Source: Fox Sports en Espanol

CONTACT: Jennifer Serna, Fox Sports en Espanol, +1-310-444-8736,
jennifer.serna@fox.com; or Deanna Canedo, The Jeffrey Group, +1-305-860-1000
Ext. 130, dcanedo@jeffreygroup.com

Web site: http://www.foxsportsla.msn.com/

-------
Profile: intent