Los Tigres del Norte
(Photo : Reuters)


Los Tigres del Norte who won seven Grammy Awards, sold millions of records, and have made more than 50 albums will be opening this year's Super Bowl, BBC News reports. 

Many Americans may not know and are not familiar with the Los Tigres del Norte, but this is about to change  because they are opening the kick-off Spanish-language coverage of the Superbowl. The band is popularly known for its norteno sound which is a Mexican genre influenced by polka and waltz.

This is said to be a very historical event for the Hispanics and Latino communities as the band is just one of the Latin acts that will perform in the event. Latin stars Jennifer Lopez and Shakira headlined the Halftime Show. The National Football Leauge (NFL) estimated that more than 30 million Hispanic fans are living in the United States and this has increased by two million since 2017.

An NFL spokesperson said: "The league's Hispanic fanbase has continued to grow rapidly and our outreach to the Hispanic community is an important year-round initiative." He also added, "We also have a robust, season-long content plan to engage our US Hispanic fanbase including broadcast partnerships with Fox Deportes, ESPN Deportes, and Entravision, as well as dedicated social media channels providing customized NFL content in Spanish."

One of the reasons why this year's Superbowl Halftime Show is historical is mainly because this is the very first time, after 54 years, two super Latinas will be performing together on the stage in Miami, Florida, a city which is known for its dense Hispanic community.  

Meanwhile, the number of Hispanics living in Miami is in an irony of the number of Hispanic players in the NFL. According to the Miami Herald, there are only 16 Hispanic players out of 1,696 players in 2018. Moreover, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which regulates student-athletes in the United States, also said that there is only around 3.7 percent out of 73,057 college football players who identify as Hispanic.

The NFL spokesperson said that they are working to establish its player base from Latin backgrounds by holding events in communities where there are huge numbers of Hispanics. He said that they will teach football skills, emphasize exercise and reinforce the importance of character in athletics and life. The decision of having more Latin acts in the Superbowl will help pave a way to recruit more Latinos and Hispanics in the organization.

Ines Sainz, an Hispanic journalist for one of the largest sports networks in Mexico- TV Azteca Deportes, said that this year's Superbowl has been more inclusive to Hispanic journalists and she sees this as a better way to engage with the audience. 

She told the BBC News: "This is my 19th Super Bowl and it is the first time in the press conference that I could ask questions in Spanish. They are taking care of the Latin media very well, so they know through us they can reach many people." she added, "They know the audience in Mexico is getting bigger and bigger, and we are spending a lot of money on the rights. Now they have announced we are going to have two more games in Mexico, so they are betting a lot on the Mexican market and the Latins."

Meanwhile, the NFL started broadcasting using the Spanish language in the United States in 2014 and in 2016 it started to hold an annual game in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. In a report from Forbes in 2015, the NFL has increased its budget by 60 percent in the last five years to advertise in Hispanic media. Forbes reported that an amount of $243 million was spent. 

Sainz believes that the organization is making efforts to invest in its Hispanic audience. She said: "This Super Bowl is going to be very Latin. The most Latin yet. The NFL is making a huge bet not only by hosting it in Miami, but getting Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in the half-time show," she also added, "It is like the NFL saying they are including everybody and doing whatever they can do to involve Latins." 

NFL has indeed invested too much in its Latinos and Hispanics fans and by letting the Los Tigres del Norte open the event is already a clear manifestation of their efforts in reaching a wider audience.