Alert System
Get instant notifications in your Discord channels when players score touchdowns, goals, home runs, and baskets.
How Alert Rules Work
Alert rules automatically notify your Discord channel when specific scoring events happen during live games. SportDataIQ monitors games in real-time (checking every 30 seconds) and sends beautiful embeds with player photos, team logos, and play descriptions.
What makes SportDataIQ alerts special:
- ⚡ Near-instant delivery - Alerts arrive within 30 seconds of the scoring play
- 🖼️ Rich embeds - Player headshots and team logos included automatically
- 📝 Full play descriptions - ESPN play-by-play text with every alert
- 🎯 Smart deduplication - Never sends the same alert twice
- 🔧 Easy management - Create, edit, disable, or delete rules anytime via the dashboard
Alert Markets (Types)
Alert markets determine what kind of scoring events trigger notifications. Different leagues support different markets:
First Scorer Markets
Get notified when the first scoring play of the game happens:
- 🏈NFL & NCAAF: First Touchdown
Triggers on the first TD of the game (any type: rushing, passing, receiving, return, etc.)
- 🏀NBA & WNBA: First Basket
Triggers on the opening basket of the game
Anytime Scorer Markets
Get notified for every scoring play throughout the entire game:
- 🏈NFL & NCAAF: Anytime Touchdown
Triggers on every TD in the game (rushing, passing, receiving, return, fumble recovery, etc.)
- 🏒NHL: Anytime Goal
Triggers on every goal in the game (excluding shootouts)
- ⚾MLB: Anytime Home Run
Triggers on every home run hit during the game
Creating Alert Rules
Alert rules are created and managed through the web dashboard. Here's the complete process:
Step 1: Access the Dashboard
- Visit sportdataiq.com/dashboard
- Click "Login with Discord" and authorize
- Select your server from the list (you must have "Manage Server" permission)
- Click on Settings
Step 2: Create New Rule
- Click the "New Alert Rule" button
- Select a League from the dropdown:
- 🏈 NFL (National Football League)
- 🎓 NCAAF (College Football)
- ⚾ MLB (Major League Baseball)
- 🏀 NBA (National Basketball Association)
- 🏀 WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association)
- 🏒 NHL (National Hockey League)
- Choose a Market Type:
- First Scorer - Opening score of the game only
- Anytime Scorer - Every scoring play (available for most leagues)
- Select the Destination Channel:
- Choose any text or announcement channel in your server
- Click "Refresh" if you don't see a newly created channel
- Make sure the bot has permission to send messages in that channel
- Optionally, enable the rule immediately (you can also enable it later)
- Click "Create Rule"
Step 3: Test Your Alert
Always test your alert before going live to ensure it appears correctly:
- Find your newly created rule in the alerts list
- Click the "Send Test" button
- Check the configured Discord channel for the preview alert
- The test alert will show:
- "(Preview)" tag in the title
- Sample player: "Sample Player"
- Sample teams: "Sample City Stars" vs "Preview Opponents"
- 🧪 Preview message explaining it's a test
✅ Ready to go! Once you've tested your alert and it looks good, enable the rule and wait for live games. You'll automatically receive alerts when scoring events happen!
Managing Alert Rules
The dashboard provides complete control over your alert rules:
Edit Rules
Click "Edit" on any rule to modify its league, market type, or destination channel
Enable/Disable
Toggle rules on/off without deleting them. Useful for off-season or when you want to pause alerts temporarily
Send Test Alerts
Send preview alerts anytime to verify your channel setup and see how alerts will look
Delete Rules
Permanently remove rules you no longer need
Example Alert Rules
Here are some popular alert rule configurations:
🏈 All NFL Touchdowns
League: NFL • Market: Anytime Touchdown • Channel: #nfl-alerts
→ Get notified of every touchdown across all NFL games
🏒 NHL Goal Tracker
League: NHL • Market: Anytime Goal • Channel: #hockey-goals
→ Track all goals across all NHL games
⚾ MLB Home Run Feed
League: MLB • Market: Anytime Home Run • Channel: #baseball-homers
→ Every home run hit across all MLB games
🏀 NBA First Basket
League: NBA • Market: First Basket • Channel: #nba-openers
→ Opening basket of every NBA game
🎓 College Football TDs
League: NCAAF • Market: Anytime Touchdown • Channel: #cfb
→ All touchdowns across college football games
Coming Soon
What Alerts Look Like
Every alert includes a beautiful Discord embed with:
- 🏆 League emoji and name (e.g., "🏈 NFL - Anytime Touchdown")
- 👤 Player headshot (when available from ESPN)
- 🛡️ Team logo as the embed thumbnail
- 📝 Play description ("John Doe scores a touchdown for the Los Angeles Rams vs San Francisco 49ers")
- 📊 Current score with the scoring team highlighted
- ⏱️ Game state (quarter/period and clock time)
- 🎬 Play-by-play details from ESPN (e.g., "15 yard pass from QB to WR")
- ⏰ Timestamp of when the scoring occurred
⚠️ Important Notes
- • Live games only: Alerts trigger during live games, not for historical events or replays
- • No duplicates: SportDataIQ automatically prevents sending the same alert twice
- • Fast delivery: Alerts typically arrive within 30 seconds of the scoring play
- • Dashboard required: You must use the web dashboard to configure alerts (not available via Discord commands)
- • Permissions needed: You must have "Manage Server" permission in Discord to create/edit/delete alert rules
- • Bot permissions: Ensure the SportDataIQ bot has "Send Messages" and "Embed Links" permissions in your chosen channel
- • Off-season behavior: Rules remain active during off-season but won't trigger until games resume
Need Help?
Having trouble setting up alerts or not receiving notifications? Check these common issues:
- • Verify the bot has permission to send messages in your selected channel
- • Make sure the rule is enabled (green badge in alerts list)
- • Confirm there are live games happening for your selected league
- • Send a test alert to verify the channel configuration
- • Check the FAQ for more troubleshooting tips