NEW YORK CITY - The Copa America kicks off this Thursday in Atlanta with an opening match between Canada and reigning World Cup champions Argentina. As Latinos turn their heads to their TVs to watch the most popular sport in the world, the Biden campaign will use the event as a platform to continue its efforts to appeal to the demographic ahead of the presidential elections.
The campaign will spend several million dollars in an event and ad blitz centered around the tournament. The plans include organizing house parties, campaign-sponsored events at swing-state sports bars and restaurants, the sale of Biden campaign soccer jerseys, as well as television and digital ad campaigns in English and Spanish on Fox, Univision, radio and other digital outlets covering the Copa America, The Washington Post reports.
Swing states will be a major focus for the campaign in the initiative. For instance, a 30-second spot titled "Gooaalll!" will air in such states hosting matches over the next month, like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, according to the campaign.
"Four years ago, we were shut down. Stadiums were empty. Trump failed us," the narrator of the ad says. "But then Joe Biden took over. He reopened the country and got us back on track."
This isn't the first time the Biden team uses major sporting events to call the electorate's attention. For instance, the campaign has also advertised in the last National Football League season and the 2024 NFL draft. Similarly, to reach Latino voters specifically tuning in to soccer, the campaign has placed ads on ESPN Deportes and LaLiga.
"From mobile phones and tablets to TVs at home and in sports bars, few things will generate as many eyeballs on all types of screens as [Copa America]," Adrian Saenz, the co-founder of Conexion, the Biden campaign's Latino media consultant, said in a statement. "It makes a lot of sense for the campaign to be connecting with the community through advertising coupled with on-the-ground organizing."
Biden aides also plan to buy billboards near stadiums promoting the incumbent later in the tournament, according to The Washington Post.
In their watch parties at sports bars and restaurants, the campaign will also offer bilingual toolkits for voters and organizers to host watch parties at home, complete with "half-time" and "cervecita break" conversation guides, "to engage their guests around how President Biden is delivering for Latino families compared to Trump's anti-Latino agenda," the campaign said on Thursday.
The Biden campaign has poured millions of dollars in recent months into different ad campaigns, most recently announcing a $50 million investment highlighting Trump's recent felony conviction. Nevertheless, the race remains close among the two candidates, with Biden's approval among Latinos slipping.
An NBC News poll in January found that the two candidates were virtually tied among Latinos, with Trump polling at 42% and Biden at 41%. But another poll in April from Pew Research showed Biden holding a lead among Latinos with 52% compared to Trump's 44%.
Copa America is scheduled every four years, but it rarely takes place outside South America. NBC News reports that television viewership in the U.S. could exceed 100 million people. The final is likely to be the most-watched Spanish-language TV program of the year ahead of the November election, experts estimate.
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