Experience
Broadcast / Journalism
Currently, Francisco is entering his 15th season as the main Spanish radio broadcaster for the Houston Astros Baseball Club, and just finished his 21st season as the main Spanish broadcaster for the University of Arizona Wildcats football and basketball teams.
During the baseball offseason, Francisco serves as an international news correspondent for TELEVISA Internacional.
Since June 2021 the University of Arizona Athletics hired Francisco to manage and oversee its Official Spanish Social Media Platforms and produce original content (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook).
The Following are Francisco’s accomplishment in sports broadcasting:
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Francisco enters the 2022 baseball season having broadcasted more than 2,000 games for the organization.
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Francisco joined the Astros in 2008 after spending five seasons broadcasting Milwaukee Brewers games in Spanish on Telemundo Wisconsin. His Major League broadcasting experience also includes selected Minnesota Twins games over five seasons from 2003-08.
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His Major League broadcast debut was for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Telemundo Arizona in 1999, and he spent two years on Diamondbacks broadcasts from 1999-2000.
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Other Major League broadcasting experience includes selected games on Spanish radio with the Cincinnati Reds in 2005. He also spent four seasons as the play-by-play broadcaster and pre and postgame show producer on Spanish radio broadcasts for the Triple A Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League.
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Additional sports broadcasting experience includes both football and basketball for the University of Arizona Spanish Radio Network 1999-present, as well as three seasons on the Arizona Cardinals radio halftime report.
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In 2015, Francisco and his broadcast partner Alex Treviño had the distinction of starting the Spanish broadcast efforts for the Kansas City Royals as they were asked to simulcast for both markets (Houston and Kansas City) during the Royals Hispanic Heritage Celebration while playing the Houston Astros.
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Francisco has been part of three Spanish broadcast effort debuts (Brewers, Reds and Royals) and is the only Spanish broadcaster in Major League Baseball to have broadcasted games for six different Major League Baseball teams (Diamondbacks, Brewers, Twins, Reds, Royals and Astros).
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In addition to broadcasting baseball games, Francisco was the English as a Second Language instructor for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago White Sox (extended spring training) players from 1998 - 2001.
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Francisco spent 10 years as the sports anchor for the Telemundo affiliate in Tucson, Arizona, as well as one year as general assignment reporter.
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In 2014, Francisco was invited to Nicaragua by the Association of Sports Broadcasters of Nicaragua to speak on Major League broadcasting.
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Francisco has been behind the microphone with the Houston Astros for four no-hitters and one perfect game.
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As a sports anchor/reporter for Telemundo, Francisco has covered some of the most important sports events in the world, including several MLB World Series, MLB All-Star Games, Super Bowl Games, NBA Finals, the Road to the World Cup, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NCAA Softball Tournaments, NCAA Baseball Tournaments, NASCAR and Championship Boxing.
Sports Broadcaster / Journalism Career
Francisco made a career change in 1998 when his love for sports and journalism became his full-time livelihood. Francisco once again was recruited, this time to head the Department of Hispanic Marketing for the newly acquired Tucson Sidewinders Baseball Club (Triple-A Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks). Francisco oversaw all Hispanic Marketing duties and was the main Spanish broadcaster for the baseball team.
At the same time, the local Telemundo Spanish television station hired Francisco to become their Sports Director. Since then, Francisco has become one of the most renowned Spanish sports broadcasters and journalists in the United States and Latin America.
As a journalist, Francisco has covered and reported on border issues such as immigration, drug trafficking and environmental health and has written human interest stories on professional athletes and sports achievements amongst others.
As a sports commentator/broadcaster, Francisco has worked in the following professional sports, becoming one of only a handful of broadcasters to do so in the country:
· Major League Baseball (MLB): Francisco has worked for six teams (Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks).
· National Football League (NFL) Arizona Cardinals Half-Time Report.
· National Basketball Association (NBA): Phoenix Suns hired Francisco to write articles in Spanish for the Suns Spanish website. In 2017 the Suns hired Francisco to accompany the team to Mexico City (NBA Global Games) to produce original content for the Suns Spanish social media platforms.
· Major League Soccer (MLS): Broadcasting the Desert Diamond Cup for various MLS teams (pre-season tournament.
· National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA): Francisco has been the lead Spanish broadcaster for the University of Arizona (Football, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball and Baseball) since 1999.
· Minor League Baseball: Tucson Sidewinders (Dir. of Hispanic Marketing and Broadcaster).
As a general assignment journalist, Francisco has also worked for the most important news outlets in the
world such as:
· NBC / Telemundo
· Univision
· Mundo Fox
· TELEVISA Internacional
· CBS
In 2012, Francisco’s journalism skills proved to be worthy of an international viewership as his coverage of the presidential elections was seen by millions in the United States, Central and South America through TELEVISA Internacional. The international coverage also included news stories on the controversial immigration laws in Arizona, which had become ground zero on immigration issues at the time.