• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 4, 2011

Univision is taking a run at ESPN with a new app providing instant score updates. Its new "Marcador (Scoreboard)" app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is the first of several planned to capitalize on the Hispanic audience's fervor not only for soccer, but other sports as well.

The free "Marcador" offers live scores, as well as stats that can be customized across multiple sports. The app is a complement to the soccer-oriented existing "Fútbol" app. Coverage from the NBA will be added soon to the soccer vault, with the MLB and NFL to follow.

Plans call for the app and others from Univision to be available for multiple smartphones and tablets.

ESPN's "ScoreCenter" offers similar information. While "Marcador" is in Spanish and English, "ScoreCenter" comes in those and four other languages.

Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media, stated that the new offering "enhances and expands our growing digital sports content and mobile product offerings."

Univision co-runs NFL.com/español with the NFL and has an arrangement with the NBA on NBA.com/enebea. Hispanic interest in the NBA is significant. The league stated last fall that for the 2009-10 season "Hispanic traffic to NBA.com grew 20%."

Univision, which has rights to World Cup broadcasts in Spanish, streamed games on its Web site gratis last year. It has also emphasized its commitment by acquiring rights to broadcast games of the Mexican national team, peeling them away after a decade at Telemundo.