SVG Sit-Down: Fox Deportes' Sergio Verdu Aims To Synergize Technologies With Fox Sports Veteran president of production joined the network in March after years at ESPN By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, October 15, 2021 - 2:51 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The first and longest-running Spanish-language sports network in the U.S. is nearing a milestone.
Next month, Fox Deportes will have been on the air for a quarter of a century, and the network is running as strong as ever. Based in Los Angles, the domestic Spanish-language broadcaster is home to a bevy of major properties: Liga MX (the top-flight soccer league in Mexico), NFL, MLB, Premier Boxing Champions, Major League Soccer, and the WWE.
Fox Deportes' Sergio Verdu: One of my first priorities - and it's happening right now - is to get as close as we can be with Fox Sports, especially in technology.
This year, the network made a key addition to its executive ranks, bringing in Sergio Verdu from ESPN as president of production. A veteran of the industry for more than two decades, Verdu was most recently director, production development and new projects, for ESPN and brings with him loads of broadcast experience at the global level. He played a key role in ESPN's carriage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup for Sub-Saharan Africa and helped craft a global strategy to grow UFC viewership.
Since joining Fox Deportes, Verdu has moved back west; been onsite for the MLB All-Star Game, the MLB at Field of Dreams event, and last weekend's Fury-Wilder III fight; and gained his footing in his new role.
As his new network prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary next month, SVG sat down with Verdu to discuss his acclimating to the role, growing technologically alongside Fox Sports, and what excites him about this new opportunity.
What has it been like to join the team at Fox Deportes?
I'll be honest, it has definitely been a challenge. I had all of this excitement [when I got started], and COVID made it difficult to be together with the team. That was hard for me. There were a lot of Zooms.
I have to say, I was really, happily surprised about the culture at Fox. I report to Mike Davies [SVP, field operations, Fox Sports], and he has been fantastic. He has introduced me to all the key executives at Fox Sports and is helping integrate me. That helps me see how my department fits into the larger, 360-degree view of what's going on when I'm not there in the day-to-day. Now that I'm [in L.A.], it feels the way it should. People stop by your office, and everyone wants to talk to you. That understanding of how Fox operates has been absolutely fantastic. I know so many executives here already, and that tells you a lot.
One of my first priorities - and it's happening right now - is to get as close as we can be with Fox Sports, especially in technology. Fox Deportes is in a different building from Fox Sports, and COVID certainly did not help us when it came to linking technologies. I'm happy to say that today we have a plan in place to upgrade our facilities and be completely in sync with what Fox Sports is doing from a technology perspective.
The open approach that those guys - Mike and [Fox Sports VP, Field Operations and Engineering] Brad Cheney - are giving us and [Fox Deportes Director, Production] Ruben Rocha, who is our guru, is a fantastic thing. We are, right now, so close to everything that they do.
LigaMX is a massive property for you, and I feel like the average sports-media person in the U.S. doesn't get how big Mexican sports can be for the Spanish-language sports viewer in this country. What are the big projects and top priorities for you as you join the family?
LigaMX is the number-one property for us. To your point, I don't think people understand the scope of some of those events in the Hispanic market and how that market consumes TV. We were lucky that one of the teams that we have the rights for, Santos Laguna, got to the final last season. We got 900,000 viewers for the first leg of that. When you share those numbers with people, they don't understand the scope of those ratings. This is a huge event. In the U.S.! There's a market from an advertising point of view and a marketing point of view, and we've working to continue to improve that.
Rights are different in Mexico. In the U.S., the NFL may control the rights to all of their clubs. LigaMX is split up by teams. Every time there are rights on the market, we need to be available to bid for them. When you work with those teams, you become more than a broadcast partner. We become full partners, meaning how can we help each other? How can we help the teams with their marketing campaigns in the U.S.?
It's not just paying for the signal. We have a much deeper relationship with them, and I think that's good for the broadcast. We get more access. For one of our teams, our broadcast booth converts to a mini studio, and, when there aren't matches, we can use that studio to create all kinds of content with a view of the stadium behind us.
Is there anything new in particular that you and your team are working on?
Yes, absolutely. In our productions of LigaMX, we were able to introduce our own version of the Megaladon [mirrorless] camera. We were the first to do it in the soccer world [in the U.S.]. That's something that I am so proud of. We are also using a drone on those games as well.
In terms of our building at 1440 [S. Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles], I'm super happy to share that we are going to be redoing our studios in this fiscal year. The good part of that is, Fox Sports is also working on their studios at Pico, and we are taking advantage of those designs and that technology and applying that to our building. That's a great project of synergy betwe
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
SVG Sit-Down: Fox Deportes' Sergio Verdu Aims To Synergize Technologies With Fox Sports Veteran president of production joined the network in March after years at ESPN By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
