Score (sport)

In sport, score is a quantitative measure of the relative performance of opponents in a sporting discipline. Score is normally measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the competition can raise or lower the score of the involved parties. Most games with score use it as a quantitative indicator of success in the game, and in competition, a goal is often made of attaining a better score than one's opponents in order to win.
In team sport, the most common point metric is the "goal" or "score". Goals are accrued by the respective teams, and the match score represents the total score accrued by each team. For example, in association football and hockey goals are achieved by putting the ball in the opposing team's net. Other team sports like rugby, baseball and cricket have more complicated scoring procedures. The winning team is that which has recorded the best score, usually the team with the higher total score; a draw or tie is a result in which the competing teams record an equal score, sometimes requiring a tiebreaker.
Individual-based sports, such as golf and tennis, have points-based scoring as well. These may be abstract quantities defined for the sport, or more natural measures such as a distance or duration. Each competing athlete accrues points based on the sport's scoring system, and the athlete with the best score is deemed the winner. In some sports, the best score is that of the competitor with the highest score, such as in tennis or high jump. In other sports, the best score is that of the competitor with the lowest score, such as in golf or the 100 metres sprint.
Most sports have time limits, which means point-based victories are usually the result of obtaining more points than one's opponent. In others, the winner must achieve a fixed number of points sooner than the rival. In some sports there is a perfect score that is the highest attainable, such as a 6.0 or 10.0. In boxing and mixed martial arts, a match runs an agreed number of timed rounds, each scored at its conclusion with a mandatory 10 points for winning and 9 or fewer for losing, depending on relative inefficiency. If either player scores a knockout or submission, they immediately win the match regardless of points or time.
Live scores is a type of service offered by many sports-related websites and broadcasters as well as online sports betting operators. The idea of live scores is to provide real time information about sports results from various disciplines. Live scores are usually free and are very popular among sports betting enthusiasts, as they allow viewing collected data on many sports events. In the past, live score services were only available on TV through teletext or on the radio. There are now many websites providing live scores. It is possible to follow live results of many events at the same time. Some sites provide additional information, such as a player list, card details, substitution and an online chat where sports fans can gather and discuss the current event. Several sports organizations such Major league baseball and the National Football League have set up their own networks to deliver live scores via mobile phones.
Each sport has a system by which scoring is determined and tracked. Types of scoring include; time duration, physical measurement such as distance, faults made, or rallies won. A combination of these factors might also be used.
Sports that use duration include many disciplines in athletics (track events of track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking), and skiing (alpine skiing and cross-country skiing). Duration scoring may also incorporate penalty time based on the events of the competition. For example, in biathlon an athlete is made to ski a penalty loop for each target missed in the target-shooting portion of the event, causing an increase in the athlete's elapsed time in the competition. In the equestrian discipline of show jumping, the duration of the performance is complemented with faults which are assessed for exceeding a maximum allowable time for the event (time fault), or if the horse refuses to jump over an obstacle or knocks down a rail of an obstacle.
Examples of sports using a physical measurement, such as distance or height, include; the athletics disciplines of shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin throw, long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault.
In most racket sports and net sports a point is earned when the other team commits a fault or rule infraction, thereby awarding the rally to the opposing team or player. Such sports may apply rally scoring, in which case either team can earn a point regardless of who is serving, or they may apply side-out scoring where only the serving team can earn a point. Pickleball utilizes side-out scoring, but Tennis utilizes rally scoring with specialized rules for tracking the score.