The Lineup Is vs ESPN
ESPN is the biggest sports app there is, and it is very good at what it does: scores, news, highlights and video for every league that matters. It is free to download, and streaming needs an ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited plan. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Vision.
What a scores app is not built to answer is the question that comes first: of the forty games on tonight, which one deserves your evening? ESPN surfaces personalized content and trending highlights. It does not publish a number that says this game is a 78 and that one is a 31.
Side by side
| The Lineup Is | ESPN | |
|---|---|---|
| Every game scored | Yes, about 60 leagues | No |
| Explains why a game matters | A two-sentence read per game | News and highlights |
| Live scores | Yes, with an optional Hide Scores mode | Yes |
| News, video and highlights | No | Yes, extensive |
| Set your own quality bar | Casual, Balanced or Hardcore; custom with Pro | No |
| Price | Free, optional Pro | Free; streaming needs an ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited plan |
ESPN details verified October 12, 2026 against its App Store listing. Product names are the property of their owners; The Lineup Is is not affiliated with ESPN.
Which to use when
- Reach for ESPN when you want scores, news, highlights, or to watch the game itself.
- Reach for The Lineup Is when you have one free evening, forty games to choose from, and you want to spend it on the right one.
Most people keep both. They are complements, not replacements.
What makes The Lineup Is different
Every game gets a Lineup score built from eleven factors: team quality, the playoff race, how close the game is, rivalry, national TV, championship, momentum, history, star power, elimination and tournament. The base is team quality times closeness times stakes; the rest are capped bonuses on top, so a rivalry lifts a big game more than it rescues a dull one. Every game shows its top three factors (all eleven with Pro), and the score keeps moving while the game is on. You set your own bar and we tell you when a game clears it, with a notification and a Live Activity that starts itself on the lock screen; weight the leagues and teams however you watch. Then each game gets a two-sentence read written from the real state of the season, so you know why it matters before you commit an evening to it. Watching later? Hide Scores keeps results off the app, the lock screen, notifications and widgets.
Get The Lineup Is on iOS — free — or see tonight's best games ranked right now.
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