Looking for the best way to track your favorite sports teams' schedules? We compared the most popular options for 2025 - from dedicated apps to ESPN to manual methods - to help you find what actually works.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | SportsCal | ESPN App | Team Apps | .ics Files |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-updates | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| Syncs to your calendar | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ Varies | ✓ Once |
| All sports in one place | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| TV channel info | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Works offline | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Price | $47/year | Free | Free | Free |
Detailed Reviews
SportsCal is a dedicated sports calendar service that provides live subscription feeds to your existing calendar app (Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook). The key differentiator is automatic updates - when games are rescheduled, your calendar updates without you doing anything.
✅ Pros
- Auto-updates when games change
- Works with any calendar app
- Unlimited teams for one price
- TV channels included
- All major sports covered
❌ Cons
- Costs $47/year
- Requires subscription to maintain updates
Best for: Fans who want schedules in their personal calendar with zero maintenance. Fantasy sports players tracking multiple teams.
ESPN's app is great for scores and news, but it's not really a calendar solution. You can follow teams and get notifications, but schedules live inside the ESPN app - they don't sync to your personal calendar.
✅ Pros
- Free
- Live scores and news
- All sports covered
- Push notifications available
❌ Cons
- Doesn't sync to your calendar
- Have to open app to check schedule
- Lots of ads
- No automatic calendar integration
Best for: Casual fans who want scores and news. Not great for calendar integration.
Most NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL teams have their own apps with schedules. Quality varies widely. Some have calendar export, most don't. You need a separate app for each team.
✅ Pros
- Free
- Official source
- Team-specific content
❌ Cons
- Need separate app per team
- Calendar export varies
- No cross-sport support
- Updates not automatic
Best for: Die-hard fans of one specific team who want team news and content.
You can find .ics calendar files online for various teams. These are static downloads - they work once but never update. When games are rescheduled, you're stuck with wrong times.
✅ Pros
- Free
- Works offline
- One-time import
❌ Cons
- Never updates
- Wrong times when games change
- Have to re-download manually
- No TV channel info
- Quality varies by source
Best for: No one, honestly. The lack of updates makes this a poor choice.
Why Auto-Updates Matter
Sports schedules change constantly:
- NFL Sunday Night Football flexing - Games get moved to primetime
- Weather delays - Baseball and football games get postponed
- TV schedule changes - Networks move game times
- Playoff scheduling - Times announced late in the season
If you're using a static calendar or checking ESPN manually, you'll miss these changes. With an auto-updating solution like SportsCal, your calendar is always accurate.
Our Recommendation
For fans who want auto-updating calendars, SportsCal is worth considering despite the $47/year cost. Here's why:
- Time savings - Never manually check schedules again
- Accuracy - Auto-updates mean you always have the right game times
- Convenience - Games appear in your existing calendar app
- Value - Unlimited teams means you can track fantasy roster, rival teams, etc.
The $47/year works out to about $0.13/day - worth it for the convenience if you follow multiple teams or play fantasy sports.
Try SportsCal Free
Start a free trial and see how it works with your favorite teams.
Get Started → $47/year unlimited teams