BY CHRISTINA HOAG | Miami Herald

Sports is shaping up to be the next publishing battleground to win U.S. Hispanic readers.

Miami-based Editorial Televisa announced Wednesday that it has teamed up with ESPN Deportes to launch a Spanish-language sports monthly in May. That follows on the heels of Sports Illustrated’s launch of tentatively titled SI Latino next month.

’‘It’s long overdue,’‘ said Carlos E. Pelay, president of Fort Lauderdale’s Media Economics Group, which tracks the Hispanic magazine market. “When you look at Hispanic titles, they’re predominantly women’s.’‘

The ESPN Deportes magazine, which will bear that name, will comprise original content geared toward U.S. Spanish speakers such as Caribbean and Mexican league baseball and plenty of international soccer, as well as translations of articles from English-language sister ESPN The Magazine.

Televisa, an arm of the Mexican media giant, will publish and distribute the magazine; sales of advertising and subscriptions and editorial content will be a joint effort between Televisa and ESPN. A preview edition is to be launched in May.

Time Inc.‘s Sports Illustrated plans to launch three test issues of SI Latino, starting with a baseball season preview on April 17. That will be followed by an NFL and boxing look-ahead%2