Michael Jordan and his championship runs in the ‘90s introduced the world to the Chicago Bulls, but the team is still introducing itself to fans who know them as Los Bulls.
The Bulls just introduced their Spanish language Instagram account—@LosBulls—featuring Spanish-language content from team members past and present. Former 2000s Bull and Argentine Olympic gold medalist Andrés Nocioni opened the page with a message to the 12% of Bulls’ 45 million followers on social media who identify as Spanish-speaking.
According to Luka Dukich, the Bulls’ vp of content, the team has more than 170 million fans worldwide. That includes 22 million that YouGov has identified across Latin America alone. Roughly 70% of all of its social media followers come from outside of the United States, which presents a huge opportunity for the team’s social channels around the globe, but @LosBulls has tremendous potential at home as well.
Grabbing Los Bulls by the horns
The Los Bulls brand dates back to the earliest days of the National Basketball Association’s Noche Latina program—which launched in the 2006-07 season—and reflected how Hispanic fans referred to the team, according to the NBA’s market research. With roughly 30% of Chicago proper identifying as Hispanic in the 2020 Census and 22.7% speaking Spanish at home, the Bulls have embraced the Los Bulls brand year-round in the Chicagoland area. The team has helped install murals around the city by Hispanic and Latinx artists, build new basketball courts in community centers, and support Chicago’s massive annual Sueños music festival with co-branded jerseys.
“Chicago has a lot of Spanish-speaking neighborhoods that are very close to the United Center, so we want to show up in those neighborhoods and be a part of that,” Dukich said. “[@LosBulls] is an international play, but there’s a lot of Spanish-speaking Bulls fans in our backyard that should feel welcome, should feel talked to, and should feel represented.”
Research from Bain & Company unveiled at the L’Attitude conference showed that Hispanic and Latinx fans continue to feel neglected in sports despite being incredibly engaged. Currently representing about 20% of the U.S. population, Hispanics and Latinos consume 64% more sports content via TV, radio, and streaming than other groups, with 40% considering themselves “avid sports fans”—the highest of any group in the U.S.