What Sports Are On TV Today? Live Games Schedule (Updated Daily)

Overview

An automated dashboard showing what sports are on TV today. Updates daily with the current day’s schedule, tracking games across 27 sports leagues on both traditional TV networks and streaming platforms, all on one visual calendar.

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What Makes This Different

Unlike scrolling through endless TV guides or checking each network separately, this dashboard gives you:

• One unified view of all national sports broadcasts
• Visual timeline showing game times, durations, and overlaps
• Timezone flexibility (EST/CST/MST/PST)
• Smart filtering - only shows truly national games (no regional sports networks)
• Daily updates - always shows the current day

Sports & Leagues Covered (27 Total)

Professional Sports

• NFL - National Football League
• NBA - National Basketball Association
• WNBA - Women's National Basketball Association
• MLB - Major League Baseball
• NHL - National Hockey League
• MLS - Major League Soccer
• EPL - English Premier League
• La Liga - Spanish Primera División
• Serie A - Italian Serie A
• Ligue 1 - French Ligue 1
• UCL - UEFA Champions League

College Sports

• NCAAF - NCAA Football (6 conferences: Pac-12, Mountain West, Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big Ten)
• NCAAB - NCAA Men's Basketball (8 conferences: Pac-12, Mountain West, Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big Ten, American, Big East)
• NCAAW - NCAA Women's Basketball (same 8 conferences)

A college game qualifies if either team is in a listed conference.

Golf

• PGA Tour - Professional Golfers' Association Tour
• LPGA - Ladies Professional Golf Association
• Champions Tour - PGA Tour Champions
• DP World Tour - European Tour

Tennis

• ATP Tour - Men's professional tennis, including all four majors
• WTA Tour - Women's professional tennis, including all four majors

Motorsports

• NASCAR - NASCAR Cup Series
• Formula 1 - FIA Formula One World Championship

International Soccer

• FIFA Men's World Cup - Men's international championship
• FIFA Women's World Cup - Women's international championship
• Copa América - South American championship
• UEFA Euros - European championship

International Baseball

• WBC - World Baseball Classic

All Networks Included

Traditional Broadcast TV (Free Over-the-Air)

Major Networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX

Cable Sports Networks

ESPN Family: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU

Turner Sports: TNT, TBS, truTV

Fox Sports: FS1,FS2

NBCUniversal: USA Network, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), Golf Channel

NBCSN relaunched in November 2025 as a linear channel carrying games otherwise exclusive to Peacock (NBA Monday nights and playoffs, Big Ten football, WNBA, and some MLB). Carriage varies by provider (for example YouTube TV and Xfinity, not everywhere). Games available on both Peacock and NBCSN appear under both.

CBS Sports:

• CBS Sports Network (CBSSN)

League-Owned Networks

• NFL Network - NFL-produced content and games
• NBA TV - NBA-produced content and games
• NHL Network - NHL-produced content and games
• MLB Network - MLB-produced content and games

College Conference Networks

• BTN - Big Ten Network
• ACC Network - Atlantic Coast Conference Network
• SEC Network - Southeastern Conference Network

Other Cable Networks

• The CW Network
• CNBC (for golf, Olympics, special events)
• Univision (Spanish-language soccer and boxing)
• Telemundo (Spanish-language soccer and sports)

Streaming Platforms (Subscription Required)

• Peacock (NBCUniversal) - Premier League, NFL, Olympics, WWE, golf
• Paramount+ (CBS/Viacom) - Serie A, Champions League, NFL, college sports
• ESPN+ (Disney/ESPN) - Exclusive games only (NHL, La Liga, MLS, college sports)
• ESPN Unlimited (Disney/ESPN) - ESPN's standalone streaming service
• Prime Video (Amazon) - Thursday Night Football, select sports
• Apple TV+ (Apple) - MLS Season Pass games, MLB Friday Night Baseball
• HBO Max (Warner Bros. Discovery) - Appears only when streaming is the only viewing option; if a linear channel carries the game, HBO Max is dropped

What Gets Filtered Out

Excluded Networks

To keep the focus on nationally accessible broadcasts, these are excluded:

Regional Sports Networks (RSNs):

• NBC Sports Regional Networks (Philadelphia, Boston, Bay Area, California, Chicago, Washington, Northwest)
• ROOT Sports (Northwest, Pittsburgh)
• MSG (Madison Square Garden Network)
• YES Network (Yankees Entertainment & Sports)
• NESN (New England Sports Network)
• FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally Sports, all regional variants)
• Spectrum SportsNet
• Altitude Sports

League Subscription Packages:

• NBA League Pass (out-of-market games)
• NFL+ (mobile streaming)
• NHL out-of-market package (the plain nightly ESPN+ slate)

International/Language-Specific Exclusives:

• ESPN Deportes (Spanish-language exclusive)
• Tele (various Spanish networks)
• Universo (when exclusive, not simulcast)

Streaming Service Indicators:

• Disney+ and Hulu (appear alongside ESPN+ as an exclusivity signal; never shown as viewing options)

Why These Are Excluded

These networks and packages serve specific geographic markets or require additional subscriptions beyond national streaming services. The dashboard prioritizes broadcasts accessible to viewers nationwide.

Dashboard Features Explained

Current-Day View

• Single-day view - Shows the current day's games only
• Daily refresh - Updates every morning with new schedule

Timezone Support

Switch between four US timezones instantly:

• EST - Eastern Standard/Daylight Time
• CST - Central Standard/Daylight Time
• MST - Mountain Standard/Daylight Time
• PST - Pacific Standard/Daylight Time

All times convert automatically, no manual calculation needed.

Visual Gantt Chart Layout

What You See:

• Horizontal bars = Individual games
• Bar length = Game duration
• Bar position = Start time on timeline
• Color coding = Sport/league identification
• Wrapped text = Full team names visible

Network Rows:

• Each row represents one TV channel or streaming platform
• Games appear chronologically within each row
• Easy to spot time conflicts and overlaps

Smart Network Display Logic

Traditional TV Networks

How it works: Single row per network Example: All ESPN games appear on one "ESPN" row in chronological order

Why: Traditional TV can only air one game at a time, so Tableau's default behavior (showing games by matchup) works fine.

Streaming Platforms with Simultaneous Games

How it works: Separate numbered rows when games overlap Example: If Peacock has 2 NCAA Basketball games at 7 PM on the same day:

• Peacock (NCAAB) 1
• Peacock (NCAAB) 2

If games don't overlap:

• Peacock (NCAAB) - single row, no number

Why: Streaming services can broadcast multiple games simultaneously (e.g., ESPN+ showing 10 NHL games at once). Row numbers prevent visual overlaps in Tableau.

Applies to these networks:

• Peacock
• Paramount+
• ESPN+ (see special logic below)
• Prime Video
• Apple TV+
• HBO Max

Simulcast Games (Multiple Networks)

How it works: Same game creates separate rows per network

Example: Super Bowl on NBC and Peacock:

• NBC row - Super Bowl game bar
• Peacock row - Super Bowl game bar (identical game, different viewing option)

Why: Shows all viewing options for the same game

ESPN+ Games

ESPN+ exclusive games are included for every league. ESPN flags a national exclusive by simulcasting it on Hulu and Disney+; those two services are used only as a signal and are never shown as viewing options.

The one thing filtered out is the NHL out-of-market package: most of the nightly NHL slate is listed as plain "ESPN+" alongside regional networks, and including it would bury the schedule. NHL games that are national ESPN+ exclusives do appear.

For every other league, ESPN+ games appear normally. College ESPN+ games follow the conference lists above.

Display format:

• Single game: "ESPN+ (NHL)"
• Multiple overlapping games: "ESPN+ (NHL) 1", "ESPN+ (NHL) 2"

Golf Coverage

The dashboard tracks the PGA Tour, LPGA, Champions Tour, and DP World Tour. Golf airs on networks including Golf Channel, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and CNBC.

Two things to know about golf coverage:

• Times are approximate. ESPN does not publish golf broadcast times, so each tournament's window is maintained by hand and reviewed each season. The windows are tournament-specific, not generic. For example, The Open airs roughly 4:00 AM to 3:00 PM ET, the U.S. Open runs about 10 hours, the Masters uses a 3:00 to 7:00 PM ET window, and European events air in the mornings ET.
• Every network carrying a tournament shows on every day of that tournament. ESPN does not indicate which network airs which day, so each network is listed across the whole event. For example, the Masters lists CBS on Thursday even though CBS airs only the weekend rounds.

Technical Details

Data Pipeline

1. Python script queries ESPN's public API daily
2. Processes & filters data (national broadcasts only)
3. Uploads to Google Sheets (structured data storage)
4. Tableau Public reads from Google Sheets and renders dashboard
5. Auto-refresh via scheduled automation

Game Duration Estimates

Used to calculate end times and bar lengths:

• NFL: 3.0 hours
• NBA/NHL/WNBA: 2.5 hours
• MLB: 3.0 hours
• NCAA Football: 3.0 hours
• NCAA Basketball: 2.0 hours
• All Soccer Leagues: 2.0 hours
• Tennis: 2.0 hours
• Formula 1: 2.5 hours
• NASCAR: 4.0 hours
• Golf: varies by tournament (see the Golf section)

Network Name Standardization

The script handles ESPN API variations:

• "USA Network", "USA Net", "USA" → All display as "USA"
• "Paramount Plus" → "Paramount+"
• "Prime Video", "Amazon Prime" → Both recognized

Overlap Detection Logic

For streaming platforms only:

1. Groups games by network + league + date
2. Checks if any games overlap in time on that specific day
3. Adds row numbers only when overlaps exist
4. Handles games crossing midnight correctly

Use Cases

For Sports Fans

• Plan your day - See all games at a glance
• Discover games - Find sports you didn't know were on
• Avoid conflicts - Spot overlapping games you want to watch
• Check your timezone - No more mental math for West Coast games

For Cord-Cutters

• Streaming vs. antenna - See which games are free over-the-air
• Service planning - Identify which streaming platforms carry your sports
• Subscription timing - Plan when to subscribe based on schedules
• Cost analysis - Understand what you'd miss without cable

For Families & Casual Viewers

• One-stop schedule - No more channel surfing or Google searches
• Visual conflicts - See when two games compete for the TV
• Simple interface - No sports knowledge needed

For Sports Bars & Venues

• Daily planning - Schedule staff and TV assignments
• Event promotion - Advertise big games ahead of time
• Multi-game coverage - See all simultaneous games to plan screen assignments
• Customer requests - Quickly confirm game times and channels

Data Quality & Limitations

What's Reliable

• Game times - Pulled directly from ESPN API (official source)
• Network assignments - Verified against ESPN's broadcast data
• Team information - Official league data via ESPN
• League schedules - Accurate for regular season and confirmed playoffs

Known Limitations

• Game durations - Estimated averages (actual games vary)
• Last-minute changes - Flex scheduling or weather may not update instantly
• Playoff schedules - Early playoff rounds may not have full broadcast info
• Exclusive designations - Based on ESPN's Hulu indicator (may occasionally miss exclusives)
• 24-hour delay - Dashboard updates daily, not in real-time

Update Schedule

• Frequency: Updated once daily each morning
• Which day: The date shown in the dashboard header tells you which day's games you're viewing
• Automation: Fully automated via scheduled script execution

Mobile Experience

• Responsive layout adjusts to screen size
• Scrollable timeline
• Readable team names

Desktop Experience

• Full-width Gantt chart
• Hover tooltips with game details
• Easy timezone switching
• Smooth scrolling and filtering

Credits & Transparency

Data Source

ESPN API - Used in accordance with fair use for publicly available sports schedule information. All game times, teams, and broadcast data come directly from ESPN's official sources.

Technology Stack

• Python - Data fetching and processing
• Google Sheets API - Data storage and Tableau integration
• Tableau Public - Data visualization and dashboard hosting
• GitHub Actions - Automation and scheduling

Methodology

What qualifies as "national"? A game is included if it's available to viewers nationwide through:

1. Over-the-air broadcast (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX)
2. Widely distributed cable networks (ESPN, TNT, FS1, etc.)
3. Major streaming platforms (Peacock, Paramount+, Prime Video, etc.)

What's excluded:

• Games only available in specific markets (regional sports networks)
• Out-of-market packages requiring extra subscriptions
• International/language-exclusive broadcasts not available in English nationally

Design Philosophy

Prioritize clarity over comprehensiveness

• Show only what's truly accessible nationwide
• Avoid cluttering with regional games most viewers can't watch
• Focus on helping users make viewing decisions quickly

Legal & Ethical

• All data is publicly available via ESPN
• No login credentials scraped or stored
• No copyrighted content reproduced
• Educational/informational fair use
• Free public resource with proper attribution

FAQ

Q: Why don't I see my local team's game? A: Regional broadcasts (like Bally Sports) are excluded because they're not available nationwide. This dashboard focuses on national broadcasts only.

Q: Why are there so few ESPN+ games? A: ESPN+ games from every league now appear normally. The only ESPN+ games hidden are the NHL out-of-market slate: most of the nightly NHL games are listed as plain "ESPN+" alongside regional networks, and showing them all would bury the schedule. NHL games that are national ESPN+ exclusives still appear.

Q: Can I see games from last week? A: No, the dashboard always shows the current day only. It's designed for planning what's coming up, not reviewing the past.

Q: What if a game time changes? A: The dashboard updates daily from ESPN's API. Last-minute changes within 24 hours may not reflect immediately.

Q: Why isn't [sport/league] included? A: The dashboard now covers 27 of the most widely broadcast leagues and events in the US, including tennis, golf, and motorsports. Boxing is the main sport still excluded, since its TV schedule is less predictable.

Q: Can I download or embed this dashboard? A: The dashboard is freely accessible at the URL above. For embedding, contact the website owner at clairwyant.com.

Q: Is this affiliated with ESPN, NBC, or any network? A: No. This is an independent project using publicly available data. No affiliation with any broadcaster or league.

Questions or Feedback?

This dashboard is maintained as a free public resource for sports fans. Data accuracy depends on ESPN's API and is provided as-is, with no guarantees.

Last Updated: September 2026
Version: 3.0

Built by Clair Wyant, a data architecture consultant & data visualization consultant specializing in dashboards and reporting systems built with Tableau and Looker Studio.