Monday Night Football (MNF), the live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN, has its first ever Latino commercial. The spot is the creation of the director and NFL fan J.R. Arinaga, who was inspired by NY Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and the charismatic way in which Sanchez embraces his Hispanic heritage. Both Mark Sanchez and J.R. Arinaga are USC alumni of Mexican descent.

J.R. Arinaga saw an opportunity when he realized that Monday Night Football had not yet produced a latino-themed commercial, catering to the growing number of Hispanic fans in the US and Mexico. He scheduled the release to coincide with Hispanic Heritage month and the lone Monday Night Jets game of the season.

The spot makes light of the playful relationships that exist in Hispanic families, our love of music and dancing, and football’s magical ability to bring everyone together in celebration.

• Writer and Director: J.R. Arinaga
• Producers: Jason Berman, Emile Hanton, Jamie R. Hanton
• Cinematography: Gavin Kelly
• Assistant Director: Brinton Bryan
• Editor: Mike Espinosa
• Production Design: Tom Lisowski, Alex Delgado
• Composer: Chris Westlake
• Graphics: Alex Kalsey
• Sound Mix: Zack Howard
• Date of First Appearance: October 17 2011

A special thanks to Tania Gonzalez, from Los Angeles, CA for contributing to Atraza with this article. Follow her in Twitter at @taniacgonzalez

This post is also available in: Spanish