Univision is helping Spanish-speaking soccer fans follow the World Cup in South Africa with its new mobile application.

The Univision Fútbol application lets users keep up with soccer news and engage with the brand across a variety of platforms. The application is available for free and can be downloaded to the iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry, Droid and Nokia platforms.

?For smartphone users, the Univision Fútbol app will provide fans with extensive coverage of the tournament, including news, videos, photos, team standings and play-by-play updates,? said
Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media, Los Angeles. ?Live mobile streaming of the matches will be accessible to Verizon Wireless V CAST subscribers where available.

?This year?s online and mobile coverage is action-packed with extensive coverage before, during and after the tournament,? he said.

Univision is a leading media company providing Spanish-language programming in the United States. Its Univision Network is the most widely viewed Spanish-language television network in the nation, reaching 85 percent of U.S. Hispanic households.

Following Fútbol Anywhere
Univision designed the Fútbol application in partnership with mobile service provider July Systems, Los Angeles.

Inside, soccer fans can access the latest World Cup scores, match schedules and player and team profiles.

Here is a screen grab of the application in action:

Soccer fans can navigate the application via tabs at the top and bottom of the screen to access news, photos and videos from the event.

The ?Mi Fútbol? tab lets users personalize the application so they receive the scores and updates that matter most to them.

The application was first released for the iPhone and iPod touch, and since its release it has garnered 290,000 downloads on the Apple platforms.

On July 11, the day World Cup play began, the application was the second most downloaded free sports application in Apple's App store.

In addition, plans for the application continue even after a World Cup champion is crowned.

When the tournament is over, users will still be able to personalize the application to follow the leagues and tournaments they want, including the English Premier League, Copa Libertadores and many others.

The Spanish-language media giant designed the mobile application to tap into an active Hispanic consumer base that over-indexes against all U.S. mobile users, providing a valuable marketing opportunity.

Univision Fútbol ties in with other efforts by the media company, allowing the brand a cross-platform reach.

?For all things World Cup, Univision has become the destination," Mr. Conroy said. ?[Coverage] includes live broadcast on Univision, Telefutura and Galavision networks; live streaming, schedules, profiles, etc. on UnivisionFutbol.com; and Univision On Demand for rebroadcast of the games.

?In addition to those platforms, Univision Móvil is the mobile content provider, offering the latest news, game calendars and more on its mobile website,? he said.