Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Yahoo Sports vs ESPN

Yahoo Sports 4.6★ · Free to download 60
Winner ESPN
ESPN 4.6★ · Free + IAP 70

ESPN has the edge for comprehensive sports coverage and streaming, despite its issues with notifications and paid content, while Yahoo Sports struggles with ads, bugs, and limited sport coverage.

Full reviews: Yahoo Sports · ESPN

ESPN offers extensive sports coverage, live scores, and streaming, but users report frequent app crashes, slow loading, and intrusive notifications. Yahoo Sports provides a clean UI and good customization for scores, but is plagued by excessive ads, bugs, and a lack of coverage for certain college sports.

Head to head

Features and Content Coverage edge: ESPNR9R12R14R22
Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports is praised for its ability to track many sports and offer simple scores, with users appreciating the control over content to avoid unwanted sports R14. However, many users express frustration over the lack of coverage for college baseball and softball, as well as horse racing R9R33R34R38. Some also note issues with missing or incorrect stats and standings R12.
ESPN ESPN is lauded for its comprehensive coverage, live scores, highlights, and timely breaking news, with users calling it a 'must-have' for sports fans . However, some users complain about the app's heavy focus on certain sports like NBA and WNBA, and a lack of coverage or prioritization for others, even in a 'UK edition' R22. There are also reports of schedules not updating promptly .
Ease of Use and UI tieR3R6R9R14
Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports is generally liked for its UI, with some calling it the 'best one on the App Store' R6. Users appreciate the ability to filter by favorite leagues and get quick scores R14. However, recent updates have caused issues with screen optimization, making content difficult to read R3. Many users find navigation challenging and wish for more user freedom in arranging content and customizing top tabs R9.
ESPN ESPN is often described as having a clean, intuitive interface and being easy to use R69. Users appreciate features like live highlights and lock screen scoreboards . However, some find the app's interface 'trash' and difficult to navigate, especially when trying to find specific matches or filter content .
Reliability and Performance tieR11R15R21R27
Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports users report frequent freezing and crashing, requiring app restarts R11. There are also issues with widgets not updating or disappearing after updates R27. Some users experience blank screens upon opening the app or when trying to read full stories R15R21.
ESPN ESPN users frequently report the app crashing, especially while reading articles R69R70R78R105. Many also describe the app as slow, laggy, and taking a long time to load . Some users encounter blank screens or 'unable to load' messages, rendering the app unusable R70.
Ads and Notifications edge: Yahoo SportsR1R4R7R19
Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports is heavily criticized for its intrusive and annoying ads, including dating app ads with nude women, non-sports related ads, and ads with audio that interrupt podcasts R1R7. Users also complain about constant, unwanted live score updates and news notifications for teams and sports they don't follow, even when notifications are turned off R4R19R27R58. Gambling pop-ups are also a significant annoyance .
ESPN ESPN users are frustrated by excessive and repetitive ads, especially for those who pay for subscriptions R79R93. Notifications are a major pain point, with many users receiving unwanted alerts for sports they don't follow, and notifications turning back on despite being turned off .
Price and Value tieR1R6R7R10
Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports is free to download, but users find the value diminished by constant, intrusive ads and a heavy focus on sports betting, which detracts from the user experience R1R6R7. There are also issues with basic functionality like adding funds for fantasy leagues not working R10.
ESPN ESPN is free to download but offers in-app purchases and subscriptions. Users who pay for subscriptions, like ESPN Unlimited, are highly dissatisfied with still receiving numerous ads and experiencing buffering issues R79R93. Some find the multiple paywalls and required subscriptions for content to be bad for customers .
Pick Yahoo Sports if

You prioritize a clean, simple UI for checking scores and want more control over the sports content you see, and are willing to tolerate frequent ads and some bugs R6R14.

Pick ESPN if

You want comprehensive, real-time coverage of a wide range of sports, including live scores, highlights, and news, and are willing to deal with potential app crashes, slow loading, and intrusive notifications .

Evidence note: Both apps are free to download, but ESPN offers IAPs for premium content. Many negative reviews for ESPN are from paying subscribers frustrated by ads and streaming issues, suggesting a higher expectation for a paid service. Yahoo Sports' negative reviews often center on ads and core functionality issues for a free app.

Frequently asked

Does Yahoo Sports cover college baseball and softball?
No, Yahoo Sports currently lacks coverage for college baseball and softball, which is a common complaint among users R9R33R34R38.
Are there ads on ESPN even with a paid subscription?
Yes, users who pay for ESPN subscriptions, including ESPN Unlimited, report still encountering numerous and repetitive ads, even during live matches R79R93R112.
Can I turn off notifications for unwanted sports in Yahoo Sports?
Many Yahoo Sports users report that even when notifications are turned off, they still receive unwanted live score updates and news alerts for teams and sports they don't follow R4R19R58.
Why does the ESPN app keep crashing?
ESPN users frequently report the app crashing randomly, especially while reading articles or within a minute of opening it, across various devices R69R70R78R105.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R9] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Good, Not Great!: While I think the Yahoo sports app is one of the better sports apps available for the iPhone, especially if you use Yahoo as your fantasy home (it’s the best), it could be much better. I’d love to see y’all add College Softball, and the teams to the normal coverage as well as horse racing. I also wish there was more user freedom in how things are arranged for our viewing pleasure
  2. [R12] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US NBA Stats page: NBA stats page. Filtered to all teams displays top 20. But the list is incorrect. Banchero and Cunningham should be in top 20
  3. [R14] Yahoo Sports 5/5 · US Best app for quick scores: Had to delete CBS sports app because they finally broke me. This has simple scores if thats all you want, doesn't add sports you dgaf about (soccer, wnba). You can go to favorite leagues and look at only that league's news. No other sports app lets you control content to this degree.
  4. [R22] Yahoo Sports 2/5 · US This is a NBA/WNBA app: This app is great if you are into the NBA and cultural issues everyone else is sooo tired of. But if you just want other sports search elsewhere. I get that the NBA finals are going on now as well as the FIFA, but the Stanley Cup Finals (which air last night) didn’t get even a mention in the 13 front page articles. Yep WNBA and not in season NFL takes priority over NHL Fina
  5. [R3] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Poorly optimized for screen: The latest update reduced the usable screen area to less than a third, with large empty bars on each side, making the actual content small and difficult to read.
  6. [R6] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Great app but too much betting focus: This has been my favorite sports app since before yahoo even owned it (I think it was called sportacular or something like that?) and it’s easily the best one on the App Store in terms of UI. But over time they have added more and more focus on sports betting which is a real shame. They should at the very least provide the option to remove the betting ads from
  7. [R11] Yahoo Sports 4/5 · US great but sometimes freezes: I've been using it for years as it's great for tracking many sports. Only problem I have is that it freezes up on a regular basis when I come back to it. I have to close the app and reopen it.
  8. [R15] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Y-Sports: Installed and got a blank screen. Nothing else! I waited … nothing.Finally deleted app and wrote review.
  9. [R21] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Won’t let you see all of a story!: I love this app but for some reason it will let you click on a story but if the story is long it w/o let you finish it. The page turns white and you have to back up and try again.
  10. [R27] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US Widget on iPhone slowww to update: Can’t stop notifications and the widget on the iPhone is slow to update. Fair app at best
  11. [R1] Yahoo Sports 1/5 · US Yahoo sports: App sucks… can’t go in scores without seeing a dating app about nude women, I’m a female that doesn’t want to see that and neither does/will my husband…will delete app because it refuses to stop ads when we want them stopped!
  12. [R4] Yahoo Sports 1/5 · US Stop the score banners!: Deleting this app because I’m constantly getting live score updates on top banner of my Home Screen even when locked, for teams I don’t even follow. All notifications and haptics are turned off and they still show up.
  13. [R7] Yahoo Sports 1/5 · US Annoying ads: The ads are beyond annoying. There is nothing that makes sense with them and just get in the way. Please at least make them sports related at the minimum
  14. [R19] Yahoo Sports 2/5 · US Tired of it ignoring settings: Why does it change my notification settings update. It won’t even let me change them back without uninstalling and reinstalling it, it seems like EVERYONE single update
  15. [R10] Yahoo Sports 2/5 · US Add Funds Not Working: I’m trying to pay for my Fantasy Football League and every time I fill out my information and click continue nothing happens. I’ve tried on the app and Safari and it doesn’t work, I even deleted the app and nothing. I tried to do it through the wallet instead of purchase team and still nothing like come on bro every year or every update it’s something.
  16. [R33] Yahoo Sports 3/5 · US More College Sports: I counted 24 different soccer leagues that you publish scores & teams for, which is helpful if you like soccer, BUT you do not offer college baseball or hockey!! Please rein in all the soccer stuff, or at least add the college baseball & hockey!!
  17. [R34] Yahoo Sports 2/5 · US NCAA Baseball: Why is college baseball excluded from yahoo?
  18. [R38] Yahoo Sports 4/5 · US NCAA Baseball & Softball: Your app provides great scores & information on the sports you include. Your biggest gap is lack of coverage of NCAA baseball & softball. Is there any chance you’ll be adding these?
  19. [R79] ESPN 1/5 · US Do not waste your money on subscriptions: I subscribed to ESPN specifically to watch the Wimbledon 2026 men’s and women’s singles matches in the US. Because of the time difference, the matches are played while I’m at work, so I expected to watch the replays in the evening. Instead, I paid for a subscription that still includes a lot of advertising, and by the time I get home, many of the matches
  20. [R93] ESPN 3/5 · US 29.99 for adds: Purchased the app to watch Wimbledon matches. I think for 29.99$ I don’t have to watch 2 min ads every time I want to fast forward the video. Those ads are so annoying!
  21. [R112] ESPN 1/5 · US Commercials: I pay for espn unlimited I should get no commercials. They throw in commercials in the middle of matches when the announcers are explaining something important. Just let me watch without a damn commercial, I’m not gonna buy whatever is on there because I saw a commercial on here.
  22. [R58] Yahoo Sports 1/5 · US Annoying unwanted news notifications: It feels like every month or so some new notification category pops up in the add with a default to turn ON those notifications for me, so I get some random news about some league I don’t care about. I only want the notifications I’m explicitly asking for: the score alerts I sign up for with teams I follow or for specific games. Stop sending me all of these ot
  23. [R69] ESPN 3/5 · US App Crashing: I like the app, and it’s easy to use. The issue with it though is that it will randomly crash while I’m reading an article. Happens too often and I don’t experience this with my other apps. If it weren’t for this I’d give it 5 stars.
  24. [R70] ESPN 1/5 · US Broken app: Every time I try and read article, or anything else, I get about five sentences in and the app tries to break itself. It will either send me to the home page, switch to some random article, or gray screen. The app has been completely unusable for the last month. I’ve had the app for multiple years and just uninstalled it.
  25. [R78] ESPN 3/5 · US App Issues: App keeps crashing
  26. [R105] ESPN 3/5 · GB My fave app is crashing constantly: For almost 3 weeks, it’s been crashing once a minute. No Apple update taken. And it looks like it doesn’t support Liquid Glass. Related?

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store