Favorite US Leagues in LatAm

The NBA has grown in popularity in Latin America in the last few years at an exploding pace. In 2016, the league claimed to have upwards of 67 million fans. Since then, according to Arnon de Mello, the league’s Managing Director in LATAM, the numbers have doubled. The league expanded its audience through a series of nontraditional marketing strategies like partnering with music venues, fashion events, and soccer players that are basketball fanatics. It has also found innovative ways to make games watchable for the general population - for example, via Budweiser’s social channels and Brazilian streaming star Gaule’s Twitch channel.

While Google Search Trends data suggests that most Latin American countries prefer the NBA over other US sports leagues, there are a few exceptions.

Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela prefer the MLB. It’s likely not a coincidence as these four countries are significant sources of athletes for the league. According to Wikipedia, almost 300 players in the MLB are from Cuba, Venezuela, or the Dominican Republic. Additionally, 24% of all MLB players are from Latin America.

Mexico is the only country in the region that prefers the NFL. They’ve been at the forefront of the NFLs entrance into global markets, with women notably making up 48% of Mexico’s NFL fanbase. As we mentioned in our NFL chart two months ago, the league assigned a country for each of its teams as an “International Home Market Area,” granting access to international fanbases through marketing and merchandising. Nine teams were assigned to Mexico, the most out of any country; the Miami Dolphins were assigned to Brazil.