NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has promoted Joaquin Duro to executive vice president of sports.
In his new role, Duro will oversee sports production, programming, acquisitions, operations and multiplatform content at Telemundo Deportes. He will also be responsible for the management and execution of major Spanish-language event coverage, including FIFA World Cup properties, the Olympic Games, NFL Sunday Night Football, U.S. Soccer Federation matches, Premier League and Liga MX’s Chivas de Guadalajara, working closely with NBC Sports and Peacock.
Duro succeeds Eli Velazquez, who is leaving the company at the end of the month. He will report to NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises chairman Luis Fernández.
“Joaquin has been a pioneer in the growth and development of digital sports content in Hispanic media for over two decades,” Fernández said in a Wednesday statement. “He is the right person to lead our sports division at a time when sports content is key to our future multiplatform growth. With Joaquin’s extensive expertise and leadership, we are strengthening our sports business for the future as Hispanic audiences increasingly evolve their media consumption habits across linear and streaming.”
The new role marks Duro’s return to the network’s sports team, where he previously played a part in its multiplatform coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which delivered record audiences across linear and digital platforms, including the most-streamed FIFA World Cup match in U.S. media history, regardless of language.
Since joining Telemundo in 2014, Duro has helped shape its digital strategy for the Olympic games, U.S. presidential elections, NFL Super Bowls and the Billboard Latin Music Awards. He most recently served as Telemundo’s senior vice president of AVOD streaming and digital, where he managed all aspects of digital productions, monetization and operations for AVOD streaming content across all owned and operated platforms. Prior to Telemundo, Duro held several leadership positions at Univision, where he spearheaded the production and broadcast of entertainment and sports events.
“I am thrilled to have the privilege to lead such a great team of professionals at Telemundo Deportes,” Duro said in a statement. “They have consistently delivered world-class sports content to Latinos for years. I look forward to working with the team to build on this great body of work and position us for the future, as we continue to produce and distribute the biggest sporting events in the world to millions of fans across linear and streaming.”
Velazquez has played an integral role in building Telemundo Deportes, leading the division through the 2023 Women’s World Cup and the most comprehensive coverage of an Olympics in Spanish language media this summer in Paris and spearheading production for coverage of the FIFA World Cup tournaments since Telemundo acquired the exclusive broadcast rights in 2011.
Under his leadership, Telemundo partnered with the U.S. Soccer Federation to become the exclusive Spanish-language home of U.S. National Teams last year. He was also instrumental in delivering the first-ever Super Bowl to air on a Spanish language broadcast network in 2022.
Telemundo Deportes will deliver Spanish language coverage of all FIFA properties and Teams USA through 2026, as well as other premier sporting events, such as Premier League through 2028, Liga MX’s Chivas de Guadalajara home matches through 2029 and the Olympics through 2032.
