Apple Sports app gets football update, promises Live Activities in iOS 18
Apple has updated its first-party Sports app with score tracking for the NFL
🏈 Apple Sports update adds NFL, college football stats
⚽ Next month, it’ll add stats for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League
🔢 Live Activities launch with iOS 18
🔒 Your iPhone’s lock screen and dynamic Island will display live scores
📱 The update is rolling out now to all users
Who’s ready for some football? As kickoff to the NFL season quickly approaches, Apple is gearing up for the big day by releasing an update to its first-party Apple Sports app. Originally released back in April, the Apple Sports app lets you follow along to your favorite team’s progress during their respective season through Live Activities, up-to-the-minute score updates, and more, all with a simplistic interface to boot.
With its latest update, Apple is finally adding NFL football scores to the app. Throughout the upcoming season, you’ll be able to “favorite” the teams you want to watch the closest (some of the ones I picked were the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, and – of course – my beloved Philadelphia Eagles) and see their live score counts in a feed. There’s also a new dynamic drive tracker to help you visualize where the ball is on the field in real-time. It’ll look good on everything from today’s iPhone 15 Pro Max to next month’s iPhone 16, which is expected to launch on September 9.
Much like other supported leagues in the app, you’ll be able to see live betting odds during NFL games, along with live details on which plays occur. You won’t find fantasy leagues or live feeds of games in Apple Sports, but it doesn’t need them; this app has quickly become one of my favorite ways to track the sports teams I care about most, and I’m excited to utilize it this NFL season.
iOS 18 will make Apple Sports even better
The Apple Sports update comes just in time for iOS 18 and watchOS 11, which are set to arrive this fall. In those updates, Apple will include a massive improvement for Live Activities: the ability to view live scores and play-by-play updates at a glance.
This way, you won’t have to open the Sports app itself to see how your favorite team is doing.
The game will be shown play by play from within a Live Activity and make it easier than ever to follow along. Scores will be available on your iPhone’s lock screen and Dynamic Island, which is a big advantage over devices like the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra that simply can’t do that.
Meanwhile, Apple Watch users will be able to see live scores using Tiles in watchOS by scrolling up on the Digital Crown.
Apple Sports adds more than the NFL
College football fans can also benefit from the latest update. You can follow along to the top 25 or other teams you’re particularly fond of, and you’ll have access to all of the same stats as NFL games like scores, plays, betting odds, and more.
For fans of the other kind of football (aka soccer), Apple will be rolling out support for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League next month. In addition, a future update coming to Apple Sports will add a drop-down menu to quickly access different scorecards for tracking concurrent games with ease. It’ll also make it easier to view matches in leagues that you don’t currently follow.
All users of the Apple Sports app can expect the NFL/college football update in the coming days.