10 mobile apps every NFL fan needs

A quality second-screen experience on your mobile devices can go a long way towards helping you follow all the NFL action this football season. Whether you’re at a game, in your living room or at a sports bar, these 10 mobile apps help you keep up with the latest news, statistics, standings, injuries and fantasy rankings before, during and after the big game.

Availability: Android, BlackBerry and iOS (with Apple Watch extension)

What it is: The Score mobile app is great for fans who want customized streams of information about their favorite teams, players and leagues. It offers many notifications that can be turned off and on, for game start and end times, scoring plays, red zone action, turnovers and more. The news feed on the app’s home page has large pictures and stories that are short and to the point. Those stories are news summaries written by The Score writers, and in most cases they link to longer stories from other news sites. The app also has an NFL Roster Cuts Tracker, which is handy during the preseason, and a Hot Games feature to help follow the most popular games.

Why you should use it: The Score lets you follow news about specific players, in addition to teams and leagues. The app also gives you a ton of options for customizable push notifications.

Availability: Android, iOS and Windows Phone

What it is: Like many other sports apps, the official NFL Mobile app lets you add your favorite team to the top of the home page so you can view news and updates in a separate feed. Most of the articles within the app come with related video, but because it’s an official NFL app, all the content is from NFL Network and NFL.com. The app is particularly well-suited for Verizon customers, who can watch live and pre-recorded primetime NFL games, regional games on Sundays, and NFL Network programming, including NFL RedZone. (All of this content is free to Verizon customers, except for RedZone, which costs $1.99 per month.)

Why you should use it: Even if you are not a Verizon customer, you can still get select content through an NFL GamePass subscription for $99 a year. A single subscription can be used across multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets, desktop computers and connected TV devices. However, the package doesn’t include live video of NFL games, only live audio and replays of games.

Availability: Android, BlackBerry and iOS

What is it: Team Stream is a great app for following your favorite teams, especially if you want to read news from a variety of sources. In addition to Bleacher Report content, it also includes local content. For example, if you follow the New England Patriots, and it’s valuable to get news from The Boston Herald, along with tweets from Boston Globe writers, all in the same feed. Team Stream also features a selection of video clips, along with options such as a spoiler alert setting, which disables notifications for final scores. And a Trending tab shows what’s currently hot across all sports on Twitter and other news outlets.

Why you should use it: The combination of local and national news, social content and video make Team Stream a unique, must-have app for football fanatics.

Availability: Android and iOS

What it is: Snapchat isn’t dedicated to football or any other sport, but you can use the app to follow the league, and your favorite teams and players (as long as they have an account), to get behind-the-scenes, candid looks at the action. Disappearing photos and video clips let you quickly see what your favorite team is up to. For example, the Patriots’ Snapchat account shows photos of press conferences, practices, players in the locker room and warm-ups before games. The account also isn’t limited to what’s happening at games; it chronicles anything else that’s going on in and around Gillette Stadium, including new merchandise at the Pro Shop and special events at the venue.

Why you should use it: Snapchat makes it simple to follow your favorite teams and players, and send Snapchats to your friends during games.

Availability: Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone

What it is: A lot of NFL-related news breaks on Twitter. By following teams, popular reporters, players, leagues and news outlets, you can stay in the know about the latest roster moves and developments. Following conversations on Twitter during games is helpful because you can see multiple people and hashtags all at the same time. Many fantasy sports experts also answer questions and provide recommendations on Twitter. You can follow specific games by entering hashtags associated with them into Twitter’s search bar. For example, the Monday Night Football hashtag is #MNF, and for a specific game it might be something like #GBvsCHI. And you can find specific sports writers or players by searching for their names — just try to make sure they have verified accounts so you know they are who they say they are.

Why you should use it: Twitter is an invaluable aggregator of voices before, during and after football games.

Availability: Android, iOS (with Apple Watch extension) and Windows Phone

What it is: Many sports fans have multiple favorite teams, and they want to follow the news across different leagues. The ESPN app helps you keep tabs on all sports news, and you can also tag your favorite teams. If you are a college football and NFL fan, you can add all of your teams to a “favorites” feed and then monitor the news and see live game updates for each. The Now feed is also helpful for looking at what’s current on social media and in the news. It’s easy to follow live game action via the GameCast feature, which details each and every play, not just scoring plays. The app lets you listen to ESPN radio, but if you want live video you have to download a separate app, called WatchESPN. (Your cable provider must also support the video option.)

Why you should use it: ESPN’s app is a one-stop shop for all your sports information.

Availability: Android, iOS and Windows (desktop and tablet only)

What it is: If you have a subscription with a major cable provider, you can use the WatchESPN app to view live feeds from ESPN stations, including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3. You get live streams of major events broadcast on the cable channels, and you can watch ESPN shows, such as SportsCenter, SportsNation and PTI, to see highlights of the NFL action. Unfortunately, live NFL games are not yet a part of the package, and it’s still a separate app than the standard ESPN software mentioned in the last slide.

Why you should use it: If you’re mostly interested in SportsCenter highlights and the conversations on other ESPN shows, WatchESPN is your best option.

Availability: Android and iOS

What it is: When you get sick of those boring, official press conferences filled with canned statements and non-answers, check out the Barstool Sports app for a good laugh. Some of the content can be a bit crass, or NSFW, but it also features hilarious satire of the latest sports action and news. You can filter by city and follow blog posts, as well as and Barstool’s weekly and daily rundown chat and radio show. Barstool does not have dedicated sections for all cities, but it does cover national sports. The app also includes the latest sports-related viral content and pop culture.

Why you should use it: The NFL often takes itself too seriously, and Barstool provides some much-needed levity.

Availability: The majority of official team and stadium apps are available for both Android and iOS

What it is: Many official team or stadium apps exist today, and they all have different features. However, many offer similar benefits if you attend games in person. For example, if you are in the stands but can’t clearly see or hear all of the action, you can usually listen to audio from various radio stations through the team or stadium apps. Stadium specific apps can help locate parking and seating sections, and some include perks, such as the ability to order concessions for your seat or check restroom wait times.

Why you should use it: Going to games is great, but it’s sometimes hard to see or hear all the action and navigate the massive stadiums, and the official team and stadium apps are meant to help.

Availability: Android and iOS

What it is: The fantasy football app you use typically depends on the platform your commissioner chose when he sets up the league. However, if you’re starting fresh, the ESPN Fantasy Football and Yahoo Fantasy apps are two great options. ESPN is known for its built-in ESPN news feed and easy-to-use interface, but it doesn’t offer daily fantasy sports. It does, however, give recommendations, and you can tap on players to quickly view stats, projections, overall outlooks and news. Yahoo also offers news and the capability to research players, and it has a daily fantasy sports feature, so you can manage your daily fantasy matchups along with your regular matchups all in one app. Both apps include message boards for trash talking with your friends, as well.

Why you should use it: ESPN Fantasy Football and Yahoo Fantasy are the two best fantasy football apps, and they import news and player information so you can make educated roster moves on the fly.