Editorial guide · Guides
Game Status Codes Explained: NS, Q2, HT, FT, AOT and More
What every status label on our scoreboards means, from Not Started to After Penalties, across football, basketball, hockey and baseball.
Every game card on SBLive shows a short status code next to the score. The codes come from our data provider and follow the same pattern across sports, so once you know them you can read any scoreboard at a glance.
Before the game
- NS (Not Started): the game is scheduled and has not begun. We show the start time in your selected time zone instead of a score.
- PST (Postponed) and CANC (Cancelled): the game will not be played at the scheduled time. Check the schedule again later for a new date.
During the game
- Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4: the current quarter in football and basketball. A game clock is shown next to the quarter when it is available.
- P1, P2, P3: the current period in hockey.
- Inning numbers: baseball games show the current inning.
- HT (Halftime): the break between the second and third quarters.
- OT (Overtime): extra time played after regulation ends in a tie.
After the game
- FT (Finished): the game ended in regulation time.
- AOT (After Over Time): the game was decided in overtime.
- AP (After Penalties): used for hockey games decided by a shootout.
How often scores update
Live pages refresh automatically while games are in progress, without reloading the whole page. If the data feed is briefly unavailable we keep showing the most recent scores we received and label them as delayed rather than guessing.