ESPN announced today that six renowned former LaLiga players will headline the company’s exclusive and unprecedented coverage of LaLiga in the U.S. beginning August 13, when the 2021-22 season kicks off. The soccer television analysts will have recurring roles on the English- and Spanish-language presentation of LaLiga across ESPN+, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN Deportes.
Former Atlético Madrid’s Luis Garcίa, Real Madrid’s Steve McManaman, and RCD Espanyol’s Pablo Zabaleta will share lead roles as English-language analysts. Former Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlán, former Valencia CF’s Mario Kempes, and Real Madrid legend Hugo Sánchez lead the team of Spanish-language analysts.
Collectively the six analysts earned seven league titles, four Copa del Rey titles, and three UEFA Champions League titles. Forlán (2) and Sánchez (1) earned three European Golden Boot awards, as the top scorer for a season in Europe. Together, the six former players scored a combined 521 league goals, led by Sánchez (234), Forlán (128), and Kempes (126). The three forwards also won nine Pichichi Trophies, given to LaLiga’s top goal-scorer each season.
“We are pleased to have these legendary players represent LaLiga on ESPN+ and ESPN networks for the foreseeable future,” said Rodolfo Martinez, Vice President, International, and ESPN Deportes Production, ESPN. “This group reflects our commitment and ambition to elevate how soccer fans in the U.S. experience LaLiga matches and exciting storylines throughout the year across our platforms.”
Bilingual analysts will appear on Spanish- and English-language pregame, halftime, and post-game programs across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN+, in addition to highlights and analysis shows including SportsCenter, ESPN FC Jorge Ramos y su Banda and Fuera de Juego.
The 91st season of LaLiga will kick off on Friday, Aug. 13, with Valencia CF vs. Getafe CF at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+, the exclusive, new home of coverage in the U.S. LaLiga content will also appear across a combination of ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ABC platforms. The season-opening weekend will include the first LaLiga on ABC broadcast – Barcelona FC vs. Real Sociedad – on Sunday, Aug. 15, starting at 1:30 p.m. The match will also be simulcast on ESPN Deportes and stream live on ESPN+.
Biographical highlights:
· Diego Forlán – One of the most accomplished Uruguayan players, Forlán joins ESPN as a LaLiga studio and match analyst. He spent sight seasons in the league – three with Villarreal and five with Atletico Madrid. Forlán won LaLiga scoring titles in the 2004-2005 season with Villarreal (25 goals) and in 2008-09 with 35 goals for Atletico Madrid. His 128 goals in 240 LaLiga matches rank fourth by a South American player in the league. Forlan played 112 international games for Uruguay National Team, including appearances in three FIFA World Cup (2002, 2010, and 2014) competitions. He won the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball (best player) Award in 2010.
· Luis Garcίa – Following guest appearances on ESPN FC during the past year, the former Spanish National Team player will become a regular LaLiga on ESPN+ analyst starting this season. His early years as a professional were at Barcelona’s famous La Masίa Academy and Barcelona B team, including loan spells at Valladolid and Tenerife from 1999-2002. Garcίa played in seven LaLiga seasons with different clubs such as Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, and Racing Santander. He won the 2005 Champions League title with Liverpool FC. Garcia played for Liverpool from 2004-07 and became a legend with the club’s fans for his decisive goals during its Champions League campaign.
· Mario Kempes – 1978 FIFA World Cup champion and Golden Boot Award winner, Kempes has been one of the most recognizable soccer analysts on ESPN Deportes (U.S.) and ESPN in Latin American. Beginning this season, Kempes will provide weekly studio and match analysis on the Spanish-language presentation of LaLiga on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. Kempes played for Valencia CF from 1976-1981 and returned for two more seasons (1982-84). He was LaLiga’s top goal-scorer in 1977 and 1978. Kempes helped lead Valencia to two Spanish Cup titles, one European Super Cup, and two European Cup Winners Cup titles. He represented Argentina in three FIFA World Cup competitions – 1974, 1978, and 1982 – and played in 43 international matches.
· Steve McManaman – The former England National Team standout has worked as an ESPN analyst since 2010 – both in-studio and calling matches. McManaman and play-by-play commentator Ian Darke earned critical acclaim for their commentary on Saturday morning Premier League matches for ESPN in the U.S. from 2010-13. He contributed to two FIFA World Cups (2010 and 2014) and the past three European Championships (2012, 2016, 2020) on ESPN networks. McManaman’s club career spanned 16 seasons with Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Manchester City. He won two UEFA Champions League titles at Real Madrid (2000 and 2002).
· Hugo Sánchez – One of Mexico’s most prominent soccer stars, Sánchez has been part of ESPN Deportes’ soccer coverage since 2014. Sánchez will focus primarily on LaLiga on ESPN+ from the 2021-22 season. His new role as a LaLiga television analyst marks Sánchez’s return to commentate on a league where he had his best years as a professional. Sánchez won the first of his five Pichichi (top goal-scorer) Trophies at Atlético Madrid in 1985, and his next four with Real Madrid (1986, 1987, 1988, and 1990). He won numerous titles in Spain – five league titles, two Copa del Rey, and four Spanish Super Cups. Sánchez played 58 matches for the Mexican National Team from 1977 – 1994.
· Pablo Zabaleta – A member of Argentina’s National Team that won the FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2008 Summer Olympics Gold, Zabaleta will make his LaLiga on ESPN+ debut this season. Zabaleta began his European career in 2005 with RCD Espanyol. He immediately led the team to its last Copa del Rey title in 2006. The following season, he anchored the defense as RCD Espanyol reached the 2006-07 UEFA Cup Final. Zabaleta moved to English Premier League’s Manchester City in 2008, where he won two Premier League titles in 2012 and 2014. Zabaleta played 58 matches for Argentina’s senior team, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup final at the famed Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He retired from professional football in October 2020.
ESPN+ will stream more than 380 matches in English and Spanish during the LaLiga season as part of a historic rights agreement announced earlier this year. (ESPN will announce the full roster of commentators, analysts and studio hosts for LaLiga on a later date.)
La Liga TV schedule
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Rolf Wilkinson
August 11, 2021 at 5:52 pm
Ray Hudson please!!! Leave Phil at home tho.
Michelangelo
August 8, 2021 at 10:21 am
La Liga and ESPN Plus will suffer without Messi. Where ever Messi goes ESPN Plus need to televise him and grab viewers. Messi likely might go to PSG so ESPN need to obtain Ligue 1 rights because Bein Sports is boring and they are loosing commentators left and right. Can ESPN obtain Ligue 1?
jason
August 4, 2021 at 10:05 pm
I don’t really have an interest in La LIga, althought I have ESPN+. EFL and Bundesliga will get the bulk of my viewing. Unless suddenly Dutch Eredvise gets added back on to E+ here.
Thinking about getting Paramount+ though by Concacaf WCQ though.
Mario Garcia
August 4, 2021 at 12:48 am
After the Euros, ESPN+ was a bit light on actual games…. but today they showed a surprise! they’re going to show some friendlies, Barcelona one today, Hopefully you can add those to the guide
It will be a good “avant gout” for the La Liga landing on ESPN+
Azer
August 4, 2021 at 12:15 am
@Michael. Tell that to NBC/Comcast. You still have to subscribe to cable to watch the Premier League as it’s split between NBCSN (USA Network soon) NBC, Peacock and a few games on CNBC. If NBC cared so much about streaming they would create a new streaming service or fix the issues with Peacock. I get Peacock ”free of charge” as I have Comcast cable. I’m not complaining. ESPN & ESPN2 will always be there, so will Fox Sports 1 & 2. They are not going anywhere, that is wishful thinking. ESPN apparently wants to grow La Liga in the USA. I wonder what goals they have set to accomplish that? Telling people to sign up for ESPN+ does not grow the league. I don’t care what they say. I’d like to see the results, perhaps after the first season is over.
Cholo
August 3, 2021 at 11:26 pm
They’re going to show all the Games. Serie A is an example. Then again, I’m on the Disney till Death package and see them all.
Ra
August 3, 2021 at 6:23 pm
Do any of you have a TV that will do PiP (Picture-in-picture) or side-by-side using 2 HDMI inputs?
Mine (Sony) only does it with an HDMI + Antenna.
Michael
August 3, 2021 at 4:34 pm
@Azer You have to move into the decade. Everything is moving behind a paywall, if you can’t adjust to that, then you won’t be watching much Soccer. When the ATSC 3.0 OTA standard if fully up and going to you will see things go behind the wall even faster. Because when that is in place, a lot of companies will get rid of their Cable channels and then put things on an OTA channel that they split out into several paywalls. You would be able to watch free stuff on 5.1 or 5.2 and then 5.3 would be open where if you pay you can stream their content just like it was Netflix or ESPN+ I would say that it is coming…but in reality is already here.
Michael
August 3, 2021 at 4:19 pm
@UnitedFan 3478. If ESPN & Fox gets the deal you will probably get all of the games on ESPN+, and you will have a handful on ESPN, FS1, ESPN Deportes, …..but I don’t believe you will see much on OTA. One because they make money on their investment by steaming…and two they are not going to go head to head with College football. That is why I think NBC will win. EPL wants an OTA game of the week. The only OTA channel with any space is NBC. Notre Dame is almost always at 3:30 EST, so there is plenty of time for the broadcast. If the US fan are cool with 7:30 am games of the week, then you could possible get CBS. FOX is out because of the college football pregame show that 9:00 – 12:00. I guess you could possible get ABC at 7:30, but…all of that is not likely. If the EPL wants OTA in the US, they will go to NBC. I honestly don’t think ESPN is going to bid that high for EPL. They are putting all their best into La Liga. I think that ESPN is more likely to renew with MLS than they are to go after EPL. They just spent $1.4 billion on La Liga.
Lou
August 3, 2021 at 4:11 pm
ESPN will put a token bid in for Premiere League rights but its not likely to come close to NBC. ESPN is pretty satisfied with their current soccer content plus they are in cost containment mode. Same with CBS & Fox.
UnitedFan 3478
August 3, 2021 at 2:05 pm
Yes, considering that ESPN does have the FA Cup and EFL
SteveK
August 3, 2021 at 12:23 pm
Comcast owns Sky in the UK and they’ve just rolled over their Premier League broadcast rights for another 3 years…do you really think there is any chance of Comcast not also retaining those rights here in the US?
UnitedFan 3478
August 3, 2021 at 11:40 am
If ESPN/Fox does acquire the EPL. they better show it on OTA and Cable, with some games on ESPN+
Azer
August 3, 2021 at 11:39 am
ESPN hired 6 analysts to be seen only on it’s streaming service. In other words, who cares? There will be weekends where drag racing for example or some other crap will be showcased instead of FC Barcelona. I’m not a huge La Liga fan but lets be honest some games do not belong behind a paywall. Just wait and see what Mickey Mouse does.
Cholo
August 3, 2021 at 9:14 am
Geordie Hudson is the worst commentator of all time. All he does is slag opposing teams when commentating for Real or Barca. Newsflash Ray, you have lived in the States 20+ drop the accent already. Phil Schoen is decent, though they should grab the La Liga channel commentators.
Efrain
August 3, 2021 at 5:40 am
Would love to see Ray and Phil move on over to ESPN!
Chronos
August 2, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Count me as another fan who would love to see Ray and Phil call la Liga. Sure, Hudson can be a bit much at times, but no one else has his enthusiasm and obviously he knows his stuff.
Lee Gaucher
August 2, 2021 at 4:55 pm
If ESPN bring Ray Hudson along, they’d be foolish to leave Phil Schoen behind.
matt
August 2, 2021 at 4:16 pm
Now that Ray Hudson and BeIN have parted ways, is there any chance Hudson follows Messi and La Liga to ESPN?
Lou
August 2, 2021 at 3:30 pm
Solid line up of analysts especially Maca and Luis Garcia. Will Sid Lowe be given an expanded role on ESPN FC?
David the Yank
August 2, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Is the implication ESPN will take the world feed for actual game commentary?
Christopher Harris
August 2, 2021 at 12:31 pm
No. More details to come!