The University of Idaho debuts first Spanish football broadcasts

A year ago, University of Idaho alumnus Victor Ferral recalls seeing a video from the University of Tennessee, where football games were being broadcast in Spanish.

Ferral, a member of the university’s Hispanic advisory council, brought up the broadcast to his colleague, not thinking too much of it. Then he received a call that in three days his alma mater would be announcing efforts to do the same.

“I’m just grateful that I attended a university where my voice is heard,” Ferral said.

The University of Idaho Athletics Department announced early last week that three Vandal football games this season will offer Spanish broadcasts – something they’ve never done before.

Assistant athletic director Jerek Wolcott said Saturday’s game against Northern Arizona was the first to air on La Poderosa 100.7 FM, a Spanish station under Radio Rancho Media that reaches 52% of Idaho’s Hispanic population.

The next broadcasts are the Oct. 19 game against Cal Poly and the Oct. 26 match against Eastern Washington, covering central and southern Idaho.

“My original thought was, ‘Let’s do the Northern Arizona game,’ because it fits into the Hispanic Heritage Month in that Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 window – and there might be some cross appeal with the large Hispanic population in Arizona,” Wolcott said. “And then they said, ‘Well, let’s do three games.’

“So we get into Cal Poly, where there’s another big Hispanic population. And then the Eastern Washington game, where there’s a little bit of a rivalry there.”

Seattle Mariners broadcaster Steve Guasch will handle play-by-play with former Vandals kicker/punter Ricardo Chavez as the analyst.

The broadcasts will also include a 15-minute pregame show; a full halftime show with highlights, scores and interviews with University of Idaho faculty, staff and student-athletes; and a 15-minute postgame show featuring highlights and interviews with Spanish-speaking Vandal football players.

“We’ve had a few listeners that were excited about it and that have reached out. We’ve had business owners that are alumni reach out as well,” said DC Calton, general manager of Radio Rancho Media.

“You know, it’s a big opportunity to have actual football games broadcasting in Spanish – it is going to be a first in the Treasure Valley. If not a first, then definitely it hasn’t happened in an extremely long time.”

Ferral also said that with many Hispanic/Latino students continuing higher education, it will help future students and their parents feel comfort in feeling included.

“As first-generation Latino students, for our parents, it is very difficult to see your child go somewhere they’ve never been,” Ferral said. “Most of our parents never went to college and went to university, so it’s a hard thing to grasp.

“So if this can bring them some comfort, if they can be like, ‘Oh, I’m listening to the game, and I know my child is there enjoying this,’ that’s awesome.”