The Women’s FIFA World Cup just ended, and the world is preparing for the US Open now. If you follow multiple sports like me, you will need an app to follow scores all day long. Most of us are busy during the day with work, getting little time at the water cooler to watch replays and discuss the play. While ESPN is a good app for sports enthusiasts, there are better options for fans, especially if you are more into a particular sport.
Scores are not the only thing that interest fans. There are stats, videos, and news about player transfers and what not. While ESPN does a good job, it leaves a lot to be desired. If you are not happy with it either, take a look at some alternatives below.
1. theScore
Several folks recommended me theScore for following updates about the leagues. As the name suggests, it’s excellent when it comes to taking a quick look at the scores, no matter which sport you are following. theScore will ask you to choose your favorite leagues right at the signup screen. You can select your favorite teams from different sports on the next screen.
Creating an account is optional, which is cool. The app is ad-supported and there’s no way to upgrade or remove ads which are not cool but still fine. There is a News tab where you can stay updated with what’s happening with your chosen sports and teams and their players. Then there is the score tab where you can follow live updates.
There is a handy calendar at the best, or you can scroll through tabs date-wise to know the schedule. Also, theScore collects and displays Twitter updates in the Discover feed, and if you sign up using Facebook, it allows you to share directly from the app. What I like is the Messages feature. Just tap on a team to create a chatroom where you can discuss anything with friends within the app.
Overall, theScore is a complete app but much better for quick and live scores with alerts, and chats.
2. Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report not only allows you to pick your favorite sports and teams but also choose your interests. What’s that, you may ask? You can follow sports betting, trending news, sports tech, and so much more. Bleacher Report really lets users dive deep to find just the content that they want. You can also follow college sports events.
Creating an account is not necessary. Notifications can be customized based on teams or players. Once in, you can follow individual selections under the My Teams tab, which is at the center. Fire is where you will find rising stories from news and blogs hubs, and social media discussions that are gaining traction.
Afraid you missed something? Head to the Alerts section to find updates neatly organized by time. Finally, there is the Scores tab where you can check live scores for different sports.
On the same screen, you can scroll to find future games. However, there is no calendar option which would have been a neat addition. There is a small icon for Standings to view the current position.
Bleacher Report is good for diving deep into the game, and all things related. Plus, it lets you follow podcasts for when you are busy on the treadmill.
Download Bleacher Report for Android
Download Bleacher Report for iOS
3. Yahoo Sports
Yahoo Sports covers more sports than theScore, including various leagues. While they syndicate content from a lot of sources, Yahoo also creates original content for their multiple blogs that are pretty good. Yahoo Sports is particularly suitable for MLB fans. You can watch live games for free without an active subscription.
As in other apps, you can follow different sports and teams in Yahoo Sports and choose to receive notifications. Fans of fantasy sports will love this app. Yahoo Sports has an entire section dedicated to Fantasy Slate. A weekly sports prediction contest where you can join a pool to answer questions to win prizes.
Get Yahoo Sports for lots of original content, live MLB and NFL videos, fantasy sports betting, and easy to scan stats and scores.
4. Onefootball
Onefootball, as the name suggests, is focused on the game of football and is probably the best app for football fans. It covers football in depth with lots of news and videos that you won’t find elsewhere.
You can customize push notifications for teams, tournaments, individual players, and also for red cards, goals, and match facts. There is a tab dedicated to player transfers.
Onefootball is really good for tracking individual players, whether it is transfer or scores or pretty much anything.
Download Onefootball for Android
5. Fite
Do you love action and contact sports like MMA, boxing or wrestling? Fite is the only app you will ever need. As the name suggests, it covers every contact sport, giving you a taste of raw blood every second (not literally, of course). Fite doubles as a live streaming app, and you know these events are based on PPV (Pay-per-view) which means it ain’t cheap, but worth it.
You can watch live streams or replays from several leagues for MMA, boxing, and pro wrestling. It has a credit system which used correctly, can lower the costs a little. Because it is more geared towards live streaming, you will need battery juice and data, preferably Wi-Fi.
Put On Your Game Face
Out of the many sports app, very few are dedicated to a single or a group of sports. These apps take a focused approach, delivering more value than an all-in-one app. Yahoo Sports and theScore are two all-in-one sports apps that can easily replace ESPN. Which one do you use and why?