Sounders announce local Spanish language TV deal

Starting with Saturday's match against the Houston Dynamo, the Seattle Sounders will have a minimum of 10 matches available on Spanish-language TV. The first of those matches will be on KUNS-TV, channel 50/51 an over-the-air (726 on Comcast) network and available in 1080p. A minimum of nine other matches will be on THIS-TV channel 4.2.

The club and Sinclair Broadcasting may agree to carry additional matches in the future. KUNS-TV will also carry a 30-minute magazine shows in Spanish. That will air Saturday nights at 6 PM

"There are a lot of Hispanic fútbol fans in the Seattle area, and we believe they should have access to the Sounders matches in Spanish," said Janene Drafs, Vice President & General Manager of Sinclair Broadcast Group of Seattle via the team press release. "We are thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with Sounders FC."

With UniMas ratings being higher than ESPN/2 and FS1 ratings for MLS, it is key for Seattle to be available to the soccer-loving, Spanish-language audience. The Spanish radio partner of the team recently closed operations, so renewing the TV partnership is key to maintaining a connection with a valuable soccer demographic.

"The distribution of Sounders FC matches via Spanish-language programming remains a priority for the club," said Sounders FC Vice President of Business Development Brian Jones in the team release. "We're thrilled to have reached this deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group, continuing what has been a long and beneficial relationship with Univision-Seattle and This TV."

Below are the currently scheduled local Spanish language TV broadcasts;

COMPLETE 2015 SOUNDERS FC SPANISH-LANGUAGE BROADCAST SCHEDULE*

*Schedule current as of April 3, 2015