Univision is rebranding its sports coverage

Univision has announced it is rebranding its Spanish language Univision Deportes. 

The multiplatform and cable channel brand will get a new name: “TUDN.”

TUDN is an acronym formed from “tu” — Spanish for “your” and “deportes,” Spanish for “sports,” and the English word “network.”

Along the name, the network is also tying into the “tu” theme with the tagline “Vivimos TU pasion” — or “We live your passion” — with the “tu” in capital letters.

The new name and logo will officially roll out in the summer of 2019.

In addition to the U.S. services, Mexico’s sports divisions that are a collaboration between Univision and Grupo Televisa will also get the new name.

Alongside the name change, a new green logo design was introduced with the announcement.

The logo, interestingly, has some similarities to the iconic custom drawn CNN logotype — though its white-on-green color scheme appears to be a reference to soccer fields — a key part of the network’s coverage and, based on the company’s emphasis on it in its TUDN announcement, a priority in the rebranding effort.

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“Univision has long been the industry leader in high-quality live soccer, and this collaboration represents another major step forward,” said Univision Chief Executive Officer Vince Sadusky in a statement. “Simply put, we are delivering on our viewers’ passion for soccer by giving them more of the content they love through an enhanced television and digital experience.”

The network’s commitment to live soccer coverage includes the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, Euro 2020, Liga MX, MLS, the U.S. and Mexican men’s and women’s national teams, UEFA Champions League and more.

However, it is notably missing the FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights — which are held by Fox Sports and Telemundo in the U.S. and Televisa, TV Azteca and Sky México in Mexico.

FIFA, which holds the World Cup every four years, has a deal with Fox and Telemundo through 2026. Telemundo agreed to pay about $600 million for the Spanish language rights and Fox about $400 million for the English language rights in a deal that covered the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. 

The FIFA games are typically staged during the summer, which gives networks a nice slate of programming to add during one of the quieter periods of the year for sports and entertainment. 

However, with the 2022 games scheduled for Qatar and fears over the summer weather affecting players, FIFA voted to move the games to North America’s fall season — which places it smack in the middle of a slew of other sports and entertainment programming.

In an attempt to make amends to Fox and Telemundo, FIFA held a “private” auction for the broadcast rights to 2026 — only inviting the existing duo.

The move, which other networks, including Univision, objected to, gave the current broadcasters a discounted rate of $350 million for Telemundo and $300 million for Fox for one year’s event.

The deal called for Telemundo shelling out another $115 million and Fox $180 million more if FIFA selected a U.S. venue for the games — which it ultimately did by opting to spread out the games across the U.S., Mexico and Canada. 

While the World Cup will still be a missing from TUDN through at least 2026, the new name helps differentiate the network from the Telemundo Deportes branding owned by NBCUniversal.

NBCUniversal also operates Spanish language NBC Universo which includes sports as part of its lineup. Telemundo itself also carries sports programming in Spanish. 

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