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Google Sheets in the Data Hub

Keep team info, rosters and lineups in a Google Sheet and push them into your graphics with a click. Here's how to share the sheet, lay it out, connect it and keep it in sync.

Updated 4 min readPro

Many crews already keep rosters, records and announcer names in a spreadsheet. With the Google Sheets Data Hub you connect that sheet to a match and push what's in it into your graphics, instead of typing it again in Customization. This guide covers sharing the sheet, laying it out, connecting it and syncing. The three ways to read a tab are in Google Sheets modes.

Short versionShare the sheet as Anyone with the link, Viewer. On the match's Scoring tab, click ScoreCastr, open the Google Sheets tab, paste the sheet's URL and click Load Sheet. Pick a tab, set its mode, then sync or push. Needs the Pro plan.

What it does, and what it doesn't

The sheet fills in graphics: team names, records, mascots, venue, the scorebug title, announcer names, player bios and stats, and starting lineups. It never changes the score, the clock or anything else in the game.

ScoreCastr reads the sheet only when you click a button. Editing the sheet changes nothing on air until you sync or push again.

What you need

  • The Pro plan. On other plans the ScoreCastr button shows a lock and a Pro badge.
  • A match in any sport except MMA and swimming, which have no ScoreCastr button.
  • A Google Sheet you can share.

The sheet is saved per match. Connect it again on each new match.

Share the sheet so ScoreCastr can read it

ScoreCastr reads the sheet through Google without signing in to your Google account, so the sheet has to be open to anyone with the link.

  1. In Google Sheets, click Share.
  2. Under General access, choose Anyone with the link.
  3. Leave the role as Viewer.
  4. Click Done.
Watch outAnyone who has the link can read the whole sheet. Keep phone numbers, emails and other private details out of it, or in a separate file.

Lay out your sheet

The Google Sheets tab suggests starting from the ScoreCastr template. Whether you use it or a blank sheet, one tab per job works best:

Tab Mode Holds
Show Info Key-Value Team names, records, mascots, venue, title, announcers
Away Roster, Home Roster Roster One row per player: number, names, position, bio and stats
Away Lineup, Home Lineup Lineups The starters in order, and the defense for football, baseball and softball

Put "Away" or "Home" in each roster and lineup tab's name. ScoreCastr picks the team from the tab name, and you can't change it in the Data Hub. A name with neither word counts as away.

Hidden tabs don't show up in the Data Hub.

Connect it to the match

  1. Open the match's Control Dashboard. On the Scoring tab, click ScoreCastr.
  2. Open the Google Sheets tab.
  3. In Spreadsheet URL or ID, paste the sheet's address from your browser bar. The ID on its own works too.
  4. Click Load Sheet. A message says how many tabs were found.
  5. Click a tab under Sheet Tabs, then pick its mode: Key-Value, Roster or Lineups. Each tab keeps its own mode and settings.

Once connected, the ScoreCastr button shows a Sheets badge. When you open the Data Hub again later, the tabs load on their own.

Sync during the show

Each mode has its own button, and each reads the sheet in a slightly different way:

Mode Button Reads the sheet
Key-Value Sync Show Info From the copy loaded in the Data Hub. Click Refresh Tab first after you edit the sheet
Roster Bio or Stats on a player Fresh, each time you click
Lineups Push Starters, Push Defense Fresh, each time you click

The Last synced badge at the top shows the time of the last sync or push.

Watch outBio, Stats, Push Starters and Push Defense put the graphic on air straight away. Push before the moment you want it, or have the Overlay Visibility panel ready to hide it. Sync Show Info only changes text; it doesn't show anything.

Keep it open in its own window

Click Pop Out to open the Data Hub in a separate window. It says to keep the window open during your broadcast. That way the dashboard stays on the Scoring tab and the sheet's buttons are one click away.

Fix common problems

Load Sheet fails with 403. The sheet isn't shared as Anyone with the link. Change the sharing and click Load Sheet again.

Load Sheet fails with 404. The address or ID is wrong. Copy it again from the browser bar.

A tab is missing. It's hidden in Google Sheets. Unhide it and click Load Sheet.

"The tab was loaded but contains no data." The tab is empty, or you picked the wrong one.

The graphic shows old text after you edited the sheet. In Key-Value mode, click Refresh Tab, then Sync Show Info.

The roster is on the wrong team. Rename the tab to include Away or Home, click Load Sheet, then choose Roster for it and map its columns again. Settings are saved by tab name, so a renamed tab starts fresh.

Checklist

  • Pro plan
  • Sheet shared as Anyone with the link, Viewer
  • No private details in the sheet
  • Roster and lineup tabs named with Away or Home
  • Sheet loaded and each tab's mode set
  • Refresh Tab before Sync Show Info after edits
  • Overlay Visibility ready to hide pushed graphics

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