Spanish broadcasters are an integral part of all sports, which is especially true when it comes to the Bay Area. Despite that fact, Bay Area Spanish baseball broadcasters have faced inequality when in comes to opportunity.
Tito Fuentes, a Spanish broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants, and Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, a Spanish broadcaster for the Oakland Athletics, spoke out against the inequality they face in the broadcasting booth in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
In 2023, only 127 Giants games were broadcasted in Spanish out of the total 162, and a minuscule 71 for the A’s, which is a far cry from the full season that is broadcasted in English. This huge gap does not go unnoticed, not only by broadcasters but by fans as well.
Andres Roca ’25 is one of those fans who believes it’s unfair to the Spanish-speaking audience to not be able to listen to the broadcasts of their favorite teams, saying, “I think it’s pretty disappointing considering that Bay Area sports has lots of Latino fans who I’m sure would love to listen to a game in Spanish.”
The Spanish broadcasters campaigned for change by speaking out to the media about their ill feelings towards their situation. Though the current state of Spanish broadcasting in Bay Area baseball is improving, Fuentes believes that it’s not enough, stating, “It’s not supposed to be better, it’s supposed to be equal.”
Fuentes added, “We’re in the United States. We’re always going to be second. We’re Spanish.”
ESPN Deportes Radio producer and backup Spanish play-by-play announcer, Carlos Orellena communicated how the imbalance between broadcasts affects him personally. With less pay, being a Spanish broadcaster for these Bay Area teams is hardly enough to make ends meet. Most have to work multiple jobs throughout the day.
Orellena said, “Compensation isn’t the same as our English counterparts. You need to have multiple jobs to make ends meet.”
Carlos works a full-time job at a radio station and baseball is his secondary job, though it makes it difficult to find time to live.
Orellena continued saying, “Sometimes it can be a little bit overwhelming, the days are long.”
On the other side of the bay, Oakland A’s Spanish broadcaster Pi-Gonzalez expressed his disdain for the limited amount of Spanish coverage, stating, “They should do more games here. There’s no reason not to. It’s a diverse market here, a progressive market. It doesn’t cost a million dollars to put us on the air, not even close.”
He continued, “If I own a team and say I’m only going to do 71 games in Spanish, that’s all Spanish people are worth? Seventy-one games? I’m sorry, that’s the way I see it.”
The inequality is also seen by others in the sports industry. Riordan alumnus and Giants beat writer for SF Bay, Steven Rissotto ’20, fears that more teams may start to pick up on the Giants and A’s broadcasting inequalities as a cost-saving measure.
“My main fear is that MLB and their respective teams will undervalue Spanish-speaking fans and keep slowly eliminating the alternative broadcasts in an effort to save a few bucks here and there.”
He added, “These teams are worth billions of dollars, so they can afford to pay their Spanish broadcasters a legitimate wage while also providing a quality in-game commentary for those who may not understand English.”
