Football scoreboard for OBS: the live score that updates itself

A scoreboard (or scorebug) is the score + clock strip at the top of your match stream. It is the widget your viewers look at most — and the one that exposes an amateur stream fastest when it is wrong, late or ugly. On this page: the three ways to show a football scoreboard in OBS, why manual scoreboards always let you down mid-match, and how to plug in an automatic scoreboard in five minutes.

The three kinds of football scoreboard for OBS

Search “scoreboard OBS” and you find three families of tools. They have nothing in common when it comes to workload during the live.

• The image scoreboard — a PNG or a template bought on a marketplace, edited by hand. Free or nearly, but every goal, every card, every half-time is a manual edit performed live.
• The manual controlled scoreboard — an OBS plugin or a web app (the free scoreboard generators) with +1 / -1 buttons and a clock to start. Cleaner, but you are still the operator: you type the score while you commentate.
• The connected scoreboard — a widget wired to the official match data: score, minute, scorers, cards, stoppage time update on their own. You commentate, it displays. That is what InPlayStudio does.

The difference does not show in the pre-match. It shows in the 89th minute, when two goals go in within three minutes and you are reacting on camera.

Why a manual scoreboard ends up letting you down

The point that changes everything for watchalongs is the spoiler-free behaviour. Your YouTube or Twitch broadcast runs 20 to 60 seconds behind the action. A scoreboard wired to raw data would show the goal BEFORE your viewers see it. InPlayStudio ships a delay control: you align the scoreboard to your feed and the goal lands exactly when the action happens on screen.

Installing an automatic football scoreboard in OBS

No plugin to install: the scoreboard is added as a browser source, like any web page. The procedure is the same in OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit and vMix.

1. 01

   Create your account and select the match

   The 7-day trial unlocks every widget of your plan. Pick in the dashboard the match you are covering: Premier League, EFL, cups and European competitions are all covered.

2. 02

   Copy your overlay URL

   The dashboard generates a private URL for your channel. It carries your whole setup: scoreboard, other widgets, theme, language.

3. 03

   Add a Browser source in OBS

   Sources → + → Browser → paste the URL. Width 1920, height 1080. Transparent background: only the scoreboard appears on your scene.

4. 04

   Position, lock, set the delay

   Place the scoreboard at the top (left or centred, as on TV), lock the source, then enter your broadcast delay in the delay control.

5. 05

   Show or hide from the Stream Deck

   The scoreboard stays on screen for the whole match; the other widgets (lineups, stats, goal fullscreen) fire with one key.

What a good scoreboard shows (and what it must not)

• Always: both teams (abbreviations or crests), the score, the match minute, stoppage time.
• At the right moment: the scorer who just scored, the red card, the substitution — then back to the essentials.
• Never: five lines of stats permanently in the strip. Stats have their own widget, shown when you talk about them.
• Legible when small: half your viewers watch on a phone. Strong type, sharp contrast, short animations.
• Consistent: scoreboard, lineups and stats share the same skin — the competition's or your club's.

How much does it cost?

Three self-serve plans, all with a 7-day trial (card required, cancel in two clicks before any charge) and -20% on annual billing. Competition themes are added à la carte, any time, without changing plan.

• Starter — €69/month: the 5 essential widgets (including the scorebug), real-time premium data, Stream Deck.
• Premium — €149/month: everything in Starter + animated 2D/3D radar, odds, pre-match & standings, player ratings, fullscreens, 3 competition themes included — 16 widgets in total.
• Premium White-label — €249/month: Premium without watermark, 100% your brand, 1 custom theme per season.
• Extra competition themes: €9.99/month per theme, switched on and off from your customer area.

Frequently asked questions