Alternatives to ESPN: Live Sports & Scores
By App Store Tracker Editorial · Updated — App Store ratings fetched to
The short version
ESPN delivers live scores, news, highlights, and streaming across major sports. Reviewers value the coverage but complain about ads and constant TV-provider re-logins. For scores and news, theScore is the closest swap with a 4.82 rating across 834,000+ reviews, and CBS Sports adds live streaming and alerts at a 4.72. ESPN Fantasy is the pick for fantasy leagues. The list ranks by embedding similarity and live App Store ratings.
The app you searched for
Disney
Watch Games, Highlights & News
People look for ESPN alternatives when ads pile up, when the app keeps asking them to re-verify a TV subscription, or when they want cleaner scores and news. Reviews praise ESPN's breadth of coverage but flag streaming login hassles and heavy advertising. The picks here mostly do the same core job: follow live scores, stats, news, and highlights across leagues, with some offering live game streaming, fantasy, or brackets. Several are ESPN's own companion apps for fantasy, cricket, brackets, or events. A couple are regional sports services. We ranked these picks by embedding similarity to ESPN's scores-and-news model, then weighed live App Store ratings and review counts so you can tell major sports apps from niche ones. Most are free for scores, but streaming live games typically needs a subscription or TV login, so check what each requires before relying on it.
| App | Developer | Rating | Price | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESPN Fantasy Sports & More | Disney Electronic Content, Inc. | 4.8 (2.1M) | Free | Oct 19, 2026 |
| theScore: Sports News & Scores | Score Media and Gaming Inc. | 4.8 (859K) | Free | Oct 10, 2026 |
| CBS Sports: Live Scores & News | CBS Interactive | 4.7 (835.8K) | Free · IAP | Oct 15, 2026 |
| theScore Bet Sportsbook Casino | Score Media and Gaming Inc. | 4.8 (223.4K) | Free | Oct 15, 2026 |
| NBC Sports | NBCUniversal Media, LLC | 4.6 (438.9K) | Free · IAP | Sep 24, 2026 |
| Fubo: Watch Live TV & Sports | fuboTV Inc. | 4.5 (111.7K) | Free | Oct 20, 2026 |
| Cricinfo - Live Cricket Scores | JIOSTAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED | 4.7 (37.9K) | Free | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Eurosport | Eurosport | 4.8 (3.2K) | — | — |
| Setanta Sports | Eurasian Broadcasting Enterprise Limited | 3.8 (84) | — | — |
| ESPN Events | Bright Spot Creative, LLC | 5.0 (4) | Free | Sep 22, 2026 |
US App Store ratings, prices from Apple. See the latest US top free Sports chart.
Disney Electronic Content, Inc.
Why it's similar
Both come from ESPN and Disney, sharing the same sports data and ecosystem. Each centers on engaging with sports you follow.
How it differs
ESPN Fantasy Sports is for drafting and managing fantasy teams and prediction games, not live scores and streaming. With a 4.78 rating across 1,944,251 reviews it is a companion to the main ESPN app rather than a scores-and-news replacement.
Score Media and Gaming Inc.
Why it's similar
Both deliver news, scores, stats, and video across NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, soccer, and more. theScore is the closest free scores-and-news rival here.
How it differs
theScore offers a clean, customizable scores-and-news experience without ESPN's heavier ad load and streaming login friction. With a 4.82 rating across 834,483 reviews it is a well-loved, focused alternative, though it does not stream live games like ESPN.
Why it's similar
Both deliver live scores, customized team alerts, news, and live game streaming across major leagues. CBS Sports is a close scores-and-streaming rival. Reviewers praise its box scores and broad sport coverage.
How it differs
CBS Sports streams from CBS and Paramount+ rather than ESPN's networks, so the live-game lineup differs. With a 4.72 rating across 828,091 reviews it is a strong, similarly-scoped alternative with its own broadcast rights.
Score Media and Gaming Inc.
Why it's similar
Both track sports scores and news, with theScore Bet adding live betting odds. Each keeps fans on top of the action. Reviewers note customer-service and withdrawal gripes on the betting side.
How it differs
theScore Bet is a real-money sportsbook and casino, not a free scores-and-news app, so it centers on wagering. With a 4.83 rating across 218,347 reviews it is a betting product rather than ESPN's editorial coverage.
Why it's similar
Both deliver live sports coverage, scores, and streaming for major events. Each is a destination for following games.
How it differs
NBC Sports streams events from NBCUniversal networks like Premier League and Olympics coverage, a narrower broadcast scope than ESPN's wide reach. With a 4.56 rating across 438,048 reviews it covers NBC's specific rights rather than ESPN's full slate.
Why it's similar
Fubo: Watch Live TV & Sports matches ESPN: Live Sports & Scores on core function and category fit. Embedding similarity score: 86%.
How it differs
Distinguishes on monetization (fully free) and editorial focus. Rated 4.5 stars across 111.7K reviews.
JIOSTAR INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
Why it's similar
Both are ESPN-branded sports apps delivering fast scores and wide coverage. Each provides live match data.
How it differs
ESPNcricinfo is cricket-only, covering IPL, the Ashes, and World Cups for cricket fans, a single-sport focus unlike ESPN's multi-sport breadth. With a 4.71 rating across 35,892 reviews it serves cricket followers specifically.
Why it's similar
Both deliver daily sports news, scores, results, and video for fans following major events. Each keeps you updated on the action.
How it differs
Eurosport focuses on European sports like cycling, tennis, and motorsports with its own broadcast content, so coverage skews overseas. With a 3.5 rating across 6,174 reviews it is regional and lower-rated than ESPN.
Why it's similar
Both offer live scores and sports streaming for fans following events. Each centers on watching and tracking sports.
How it differs
Setanta Sports serves Eurasian and European markets with live football streaming, so its coverage and availability are regional. With a 3.81 rating across only 81 reviews it is small and not US-focused like ESPN.
Why it's similar
Both carry the ESPN brand and relate to ESPN's sports operation. Each is an official ESPN app.
How it differs
ESPN Events is an event-companion app for agendas, maps, and event passes at ESPN-run events, not a scores-and-news app. It has no public ratings and cannot follow live games, a brand-string match rather than a sports-tracking alternative.
Every app in our database carries a dense vector embedding derived from its title, subtitle, full description, and category metadata. To find apps similar to ESPN: Live Sports & Scores, we compute cosine distance against every other app and keep the closest 30. The similarity score shown on each pick is 1 - distance/2 clamped to [0,1] — 100% means the embedding spaces are identical, 0% means orthogonal.
Apps from ESPN: Live Sports & Scores's own developer are left out. The 10 most similar of the rest are ordered by App Store rating times the logarithm of their rating count, so a 4.8-star app with 100,000 ratings ranks above a 4.5-star app with 200 ratings.
The similar-app list was computed on May 25, 2026. Ratings are the latest US App Store fetch for each app, taken between October 15, 2026 and October 22, 2026. Prices and update dates come from Apple when the page is built.
No paid placements. No affiliate links. No sponsored picks. Read our full methodology.
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