Sports apps are essential for the vast majority of fans. Most sports fans will have more than a few on their phone, keeping them up to date with live scores and breaking news. There is, of course, a wide range of options, from ESPN to SofaScore, Bleacher Report to the BBC.
Yet, fans of specific sports will also use official apps from teams and sports leagues. The quality is usually very high, though it can vary in terms of innovation. Some are highly serviceable and dependable, such as the official Premier League app, yet don’t break the mold with unique features. Yet some go the extra mile:
Below, we break down some of those apps that are a must for fans, leading the way in innovation and ingenuity:
The MLB App
The MLB App is – and always has been – the gold standard among official apps from US sports leagues. Arguably, Major League Baseball was the most prescient in seeing the coming influence of the smartphone in the late 2000s, and it quickly tailored its content to be optimized for mobile. There are some structural elements of baseball that make it highly compatible with an application – the pacing of an at-bat for live stat feeds, etc. – but MLB quickly made it seamless. Even today, the MLB app is still innovating, incorporating live games, for example, into the Apple Vision Pro AR headset.
The Masters App
Every April, the Masters app gets an upgrade and polish to fortify its position as the best golf app. It does everything a golf app is supposed to do, keeping fans up to date with scores and the kind of advanced statistics that are useful for those who bet on the Masters, yet it also goes further, working with IBM, for instance, on design and cutting-edge features. The Masters tagline is “a tradition like no other,” but this is an app like no other. Best in class.
The Manchester United App
We will start with one criticism of the Manchester United App: It can be a bit annoying that it often tries to nudge you into the club’s official store to purchase merchandise. Yet, if you can overlook that, it was one of the best standalone official soccer club apps around. It is basically an all-in-one club companion, acting as a wallet for tickets, a record of your personal journey with the team, as well as exclusive news and podcasts.
Formula One App
The above apps are all free, and you’ll not really feel the need to subscribe to anything beyond accessing live games. The Formula One App is also free for its basic services, keeping you up to date with all the action. However, its best features are unlocked via an F1 TV subscription, opening up a world of exclusive content. It’s arguably best for hardcore F1 fans rather than casual ones, but if you are the type of person who wants to know about detailed live tire information during a race or a driver’s eye view of the Grand Prix, this is the app for you.
NBA App
The NBA recently made a brave decision that has improved the quality of content on its official app. Before the 2025-2026 season got underway, it decided to expand to incorporate content from other leagues, notably in Europe. It was a big move, and it has worked to complement rather than endanger the NBA’s core product. So if you are a true basketball nut, you can get global insights on the NBA app. It’s also a handy companion for live stats and scores, and it’s compatible with NBA TV.
