Grand Valley State University had a home opening for the football season on Sept. 9. This was also the very first game in which GVSU had a dedicated Spanish broadcasting team.
The two-person Spanish broadcasting team consists of broadcasters and announcers Elio Benitez and Miguel Esparza. The duo was both born and raised in Chicago and have broadcasted games for many of Chicago’s sports teams– the Bears, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, the Cubs and the Chicago Fire Football Club (FC). They have roughly 20 years of broadcast experience under their belts.
Both living in Chicago, Benitez and Esparza commute from Chicago to Allendale, Michigan for each of GVSU’s home football games. Benitez said they make the most of their time spent driving.
“We have a wonderful relationship both on and off either the field or broadcasting, depending on what sport we’re doing,” Benitez said of Esparza. “One of the things that we’ve committed to is commuting together. It gives us an opportunity to kind of catch up on our work week.”
According to a GVNext article, GVSU’s student body is 7.6% Hispanic/Latino and growing. Excelencia in Education, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit working to assist Latino students in achieving success in higher education, awarded GVSU with their Seal of Excelencia in June of 2019 and reinstated it each year since. According to their website, the Seal of Excelencia is “an independent national certification for institutions intentionally serving Latino students while serving all.”
Deputy Director of Athletics at GVSU Doug Lipinski said GVSU’s Athletics Department has been trying to broaden GVSU’s horizons toward the Hispanic and Latino population. Lipinski told GVNext that receiving the seal encouraged him to make a change and caused him to look for Spanish-speaking broadcasters.
“The concept of creating a Spanish-language radio broadcast started in 2017 as part of an athletics marketing plan rooted in fan development and brand management,” Lipinski told GVNext. “We are always looking for ways to grow Laker nation while reaching higher.”
A GVLakers article stated the Esparza and Benitez duo is, in fact, the first known instance of a Spanish-speaking broadcast for any Division II football team. Esparza said this opportunity has been very special to him.
“I feel that when we get the opportunity to bring the sports in Spanish, it just opens up so many doors and just at the end of the day, you know, sharing the beautiful thing that we do, which is just broadcasting sports for us,” Esparza said.
Esparza mentioned sports are something the Latino community is very passionate about.
“Often soccer is brought up for the Latino community, but honestly baseball is so loved, right? Football is so loved,” Benitez said.
Benitez said he feels this opportunity for Spanish sportscasting can help increase the accessibility of sports for Spanish speakers.
“I think that that’s exactly what Miguel and I are doing. We’re helping bridge, ultimately, whatever differences might exist, right?” Benitez said.
Esparza said he hopes they will inspire other teams to follow in GVSU’s footsteps and add Spanish broadcasts to their games. Esparza said teams that have already started to include Spanish broadcasters allows for more accessible listening for many people.
“All these teams see the importance of the Latino community and bringing sports to them,” Esparza said. “Not only for the older generation that probably doesn’t speak English but for the generation like mine and those that come after me that speak both languages, but like to sit there and probably listen with their father who probably doesn’t speak the language so well.”
