ESPN reviews: what App Store users complain about

We read the 300 most recent App Store reviews of ESPN: Live Sports & Scores (by Disney Electronic Content, Inc.) from 6 storefronts, dated 29 September 2026 to 22 October 2026. Average rating in this sample: 2.48★. All-time App Store rating: 4.6★ from 4.2M ratings. 201 reviews (67%) gave 1–3 stars.

Star ratings in this sample

Rating by month

What 1–3★ reviews mention

197 English-language 1–3★ reviews in the sample (US, UK, Canada, Australia and India storefronts), matched against fixed keyword lists per theme.

A review can mention several themes.

Most-mentioned issues

1. Reduce ad frequency and length: 22 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Cap ads per session, avoid unskippable video, and never show ads in the middle of a core task.
   “Sooo many unskippable ads. 15 seconds of clip, 60 seconds of ads. Thankful for the Mute button. 50% of programming is for third-world soccer games. Another 40% is Division 5 NCAA teams. Blacked out from four NHL and three NBA teams and all NFL games. Missing GMFB every morning.…” (1★, v8.28.0, 2026-10-16, US)
2. Fix notifications: 18 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Check notification delivery and let users control frequency in settings.
   “I’ve had enough. I’ve tried everything to shut off the breaking news push notifications. Can’t do it. I don’t want all notifications gone. I want the ones I’ve actually subscribed to. Developers, please fix.” (1★, v8.26.1, 2026-09-29, US)
3. Speed up loading: 13 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Profile cold start and the slowest screens on older devices; cache content.
   “When using the ESPN app to follow NBA games, I've noticed that the scoreboard often updates significantly before the play-by-play or game commentary explains what actually happened. This creates a noticeable delay between seeing the score change and receiving the corresponding ga…” (1★, v8.28.0, 2026-10-21, US)
4. Fix login / account access: 12 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Audit the sign-in flow (SSO, password reset, verification emails) on the latest version; add clear error messages.
   “good thing there’s a monopoly ran by Disney, it allows an app like this to exist. we need it if we love sports. it won’t log you in, keep that login, when logged in it crashes every time or will tell you there’s too many people watching on your account as the only account holder.…” (1★, v8.27.0, 2026-10-07, US)
5. Make trials and renewals transparent: 8 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Show the renewal date and price before the trial ends; link to cancellation. Surprise charges drive 1-star reviews and refunds.
   “I want notifications on to remind me when games start and end for my favorite teams because I have a busy schedule. I have turned off all other notifications, including “Breaking News.” I only have game start and final selected for five or so teams. However, I have gotten multipl…” (1★, v8.27.0, 2026-10-06, US)
6. Ship the most requested feature: 8 of 197 1–3★ reviews. What to do: Read the quotes below for the exact request; consider a public roadmap.
   “Every year the football gods make us all buy espn for one game a week and charge us 30 dollars a month for it. With no option to record games. I also don’t know how many times I opened this app and it said “upcoming” to a game that has already started with no option to start it…” (1★, v8.28.0, 2026-10-19, US)

Rating by app version

Versions with fewer than 5 reviews in the sample are left out.

Method and limits

Reviews were collected once from Apple's public customer-reviews feed (most recent first, 6 storefronts merged, up to 300 reviews). Star, month and version figures are plain counts of that sample. Theme and issue figures come from fixed keyword patterns (for example “subscription”, “charged”, “refund” for pricing) run on English-language 1–3★ reviews only; a keyword match is not a judgement of the review, so check the quotes. The paid report classifies every review with an AI model into 7 themes and 18 issues with severity. This is a snapshot of recent reviews, not the app's full history. Generated 24 October 2026. Not affiliated with Disney Electronic Content, Inc. or Apple.

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FAQ

What do ESPN users complain about most?

In 197 English-language 1–3★ App Store reviews from 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-22, the most-mentioned theme was bugs (21%) and the most-mentioned issue was “reduce ad frequency and length” (22 reviews).

How many ESPN App Store reviews are negative?

201 of 300 recent reviews (67%) gave 1–3 stars. Average rating in this sample: 2.48★.