OU Adds Spanish Audio Option for Football Season

NORMAN ? For the first time, the University of Oklahoma will offer a Spanish audio broadcast of its football games for an entire season. The OU Athletics Department, in conjunction with Learfield's Sooner Sports Properties, made the announcement Thursday.

Veteran Spanish broadcasters Enrique Vasquez and Alex Parra will call OU's games in 2017, with Vasquez handling play-by-play duties and Parra serving as color analyst. The games will stream live on the free TuneIn on-demand audio broadcast site and app. Each broadcast will feature a 30-minute pregame show and a 15-minute postgame show.

"We're very excited to be able to deliver a Spanish audio broadcast of every Oklahoma football game to our Spanish-speaking fans," said OU Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione. "The Hispanic community is an important and growing segment of our fan base, and we're beyond happy to offer this new international broadcast experience via TuneIn. This is an endeavor that's been in the works for quite some time, and I would like to acknowledge Learfield, Sooner Sports Properties and TuneIn, as well as Enrique and Alex, for making it possible."

"The Hispanic community is an important and growing segment of our fan base, and we're beyond happy to offer this new international broadcast experience via TuneIn."
Joe Castiglione

Vasquez, who since 2012 has served as play-by-play announcer on the Houston Texans' Spanish radio broadcasts, began his sports broadcasting career in 1992 as color commentator on the Houston Oilers' Spanish radio broadcasts, serving in that role until the 1995 season. His experience as NFL broadcaster continued with a stint as play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports America's NFL Game of the Week broadcasts, highlighted by his call of Super Bowls XXXI and XXXII to a cable viewing audience from Mexico to all of Central and South America. From 1998 to 2001, Enrique also served as color analyst on Cadena de Plata, the Dallas Cowboys International Spanish radio network. He also served as play-by-play announcer on the network for select preseason games.

The return of the NFL to Houston in 2002 brought Vasquez back to the Space City to serve as color commentator on the Houston Texans' Spanish radio broadcast thru 2011.

Since 2013 Vasquez has also co-hosted "Houston Texans Primero y Diez" on KTMD Telemundo Houston. The official Spanish language weekly TV show of the Texans was nominated for an Emmy in 2015.

"Being part of the inaugural season-long broadcast of Oklahoma Sooners' football in Spanish is truly an honor and a privilege," said Vasquez. "Nothing compares to the excitement and passion that is college football. I look forward to sharing this with all the Spanish-speaking Sooner fans across the country."

Parra, who graduated from Jenks High School in Oklahoma and attended OU as a freshman before transferring to Houston, has been involved in the coverage of major sporting events and leagues for more than 20 years. He began his broadcasting career in the news department at Telemundo Houston and became one of the first journalists to work in both Spanish and English language media when he joined Fox 26 Houston. As a producer, host and commentator, Parra has worked with Fox Sports International covering PGA Golf, NFL Football, ATP and WTA Tennis, Bundesliga Soccer and the United States and Mexico National Soccer teams.

Parra has also served as Spanish language commentator for the NBA's Houston Rockets and the MLS's Houston Dynamo. He was co-host of the first daily ESPN Deportes Radio program ("Voces del Deporte") in Houston history and executive producer and host of the first official Spanish language team broadcast of MLB's Houston Astros ("Contacto con los Astros"). In the realm of boxing, Parra was co-creator and executive producer of the first bi-lingual radio program in the United States, "El Baby Bull Show," featuring world boxing champion Juan Diaz and airing on Univision Radio.

The streaming agreement between Learfield and TuneIn provides Oklahoma fans complimentary access to a dedicated Sooner Network channel to find game action and related OU sports programming. TuneIn airs live football and men's basketball games, as well as coaches shows, at no cost. TuneIn's Sooner Network channel also airs live select women's basketball, baseball, softball and other game broadcasts throughout the season. All OU athletics events that are broadcast via radio are available for free via TuneIn, SoonerSports.com or a Sooner Sports Network affiliate's website.

TuneIn has the most comprehensive free college football coverage in the industry with hundreds of live games from every major conference, including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC, AAC, MAC and WAC. At the start of the season, fans can simply search for their school on the TuneIn app or visit TuneIn.com/collegefootball. TuneIn is available for download on iOS and Android, as well as on more than 200 connected devices.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Adds Spanish Audio Option for Football Season

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