To turn off notification sounds for the ESPN Fantasy app on your iPhone, open Settings, tap Notifications, tap ESPN Fantasy, and turn off Sounds. The alerts still arrive, but your iPhone stays quiet when they do.
This is useful during the football season, when trade offers, waiver moves and scoring updates can come in at any hour. The steps below follow Apple’s notification settings guide for the iPhone and ESPN Fan Support’s alert preferences page for the app.
Before You Start
- The app’s name. ESPN has two iPhone apps: the main ESPN app and the ESPN Fantasy app, which handles fantasy football and ESPN’s other fantasy games. Each one has its own entry in Settings, so pick the one that is making the noise.
- Your iOS version. These steps are based on Apple’s current iPhone User Guide. On older versions of iOS the labels can differ slightly, but the path through Settings and Notifications is the same.
- What changes. You are changing a setting on this iPhone only. Your ESPN account, leagues and teams are not affected, and you can switch the sound back on whenever you like.
How to Turn Off ESPN Fantasy Notification Sounds
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Notifications.
- Scroll to the list of apps below Notification Style and tap ESPN Fantasy. Apple also documents a second route: Settings > Apps > ESPN Fantasy > Notifications.
- Make sure Allow Notifications is on. The other options on this screen only appear when it is.
- Turn off Sounds.
That is the whole change. There is no Save button, so you can close Settings as soon as the switch is off. ESPN Fantasy alerts keep appearing on your Lock Screen, in Notification Center, or as banners, depending on what is selected under Alerts, but they no longer play a sound.
Apple describes Sounds as an option that appears “if the app supports it,” and in its current guide the wording is to tap Sounds and select a sound. If your iPhone shows Sounds as a row to tap rather than a switch, tap it and look for a silent choice there. The same setting exists for most apps, as shown in our guide to turning off sound notifications in the iPhone Twitch app. If you would rather keep a sound but pick a different one, see how to change an iPhone app’s notification sound.
Sounds Off or Notifications Off?
The ESPN Fantasy notification screen has two switches that are easy to confuse. Sounds only controls the noise. Allow Notifications controls whether the app can alert you at all. Turn off Allow Notifications only if you are happy to miss trade offers and lineup reminders unless you open the app yourself.
Other options on the same screen, all listed in Apple’s guide:
- Alerts: choose whether notifications show on the Lock Screen, in Notification Center, or as banners.
- Badges: show or hide the red number on the app icon. Our article on iPhone badges explains what it counts.
- Notification Delivery: if you use Scheduled Summary, choose Immediate Delivery or Scheduled Summary. A summary collects notifications from the apps you pick and delivers them together at times you set.
- Show Previews: if it appears, choose Always, When Unlocked, or Never.
How to Get Fewer ESPN Fantasy Alerts
If the real problem is how many alerts you get, change that inside the app. ESPN Fan Support describes the steps this way:
- Open the ESPN Fantasy app and tap the gear icon in the top-right corner.
- Tap Alert Preferences.
- Turn Game Alerts or News Alerts on or off for each fantasy sport, such as Football. ESPN says Game Alerts cover the results of your fantasy teams and players, while News Alerts cover real-world news and results from the professional leagues.
- Scroll down and tap one of your leagues to open its own alert menu, then turn categories such as Trades and Add/Drops on or off.
ESPN notes two things to keep in mind. When alerts are enabled, every option starts out enabled, so you need to switch off the ones you do not want. And changing one league’s alerts does not change any other league, so repeat step 4 for each league you play in.
League chat has its own control. According to ESPN’s chat alerts page, go to Settings > Alert Preferences > Chat Notifications in the app and turn it off to stop all chat alerts. To quiet a single conversation, open it, tap the chat name at the top of the screen, and turn on Mute Notifications.
How to Silence Alerts Overnight
To keep ESPN Fantasy sounds during the day but not at night, use a Focus. A Focus is an iPhone mode, such as Do Not Disturb or Sleep, that holds back notifications while it is on. Per Apple’s Focus guide:
- Open Control Center.
- Tap Focus.
- Tap Do Not Disturb to turn it on.
To make it automatic, go to Settings > Focus, tap a Focus such as Do Not Disturb, and tap Add Schedule to set the times. In the same place, tap Apps to choose which apps are allowed or silenced while that Focus is on. Keep in mind that a Focus affects more than ESPN Fantasy: it silences other notifications too, unless you allow them. Our guide on turning on Do Not Disturb on an iPhone covers the options in more detail.
To turn a Focus off, open Control Center, tap Focus, and tap the Focus that is on.
How to Check the Change and Undo It
Go back to Settings > Notifications > ESPN Fantasy. If the Sounds switch is off, the setting is saved. The next ESPN Fantasy alert that arrives should show up silently.
To undo it, return to the same screen and turn Sounds back on. Nothing else needs to be reset. If you also changed alerts inside the app, open Alert Preferences again and switch the ones you want back on, league by league.
Troubleshooting
- ESPN Fantasy is not in the Notifications list. Apple notes that if Notifications does not appear for an app, the app might not be able to send notifications. Check that you are looking for ESPN Fantasy rather than ESPN, and that the app is installed.
- There is no Sounds option. Turn on Allow Notifications first. Apple says the sound, placement and appearance options become available when it is on.
- You still hear a sound. It may be coming from the main ESPN app, which has a separate entry under Settings > Notifications. Repeat the steps for ESPN.
- The iPhone still buzzes. Sounds and vibration are not the same thing, and Apple says an iPhone may still vibrate even in Silent mode. See how to turn off vibration on an iPhone.
- Every app is silent, not just ESPN Fantasy. Silent mode or a Focus is probably on. Apple’s Silence iPhone page explains the Action button and the Ring/Silent switch.
- You cannot find Alert Preferences in the app. ESPN changes its app layout from time to time. Look for the gear icon or a settings menu, and check ESPN Fan Support if the menu has moved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I still see ESPN Fantasy alerts after turning off sounds?
Yes. Turning off Sounds only removes the noise, so banners, Lock Screen alerts and badges keep working. To stop the alerts as well, see how to disable notifications for the ESPN Fantasy app.
Does turning off Sounds for ESPN Fantasy affect other apps?
No. The Sounds setting under Settings > Notifications > ESPN Fantasy applies to that app only. Calls, texts and other apps keep their own sound settings.
Why don’t I see a Sounds option for ESPN Fantasy?
The option is hidden while Allow Notifications is off, so turn that on first. Apple also says the Sounds setting only appears for apps that support it.
Do ESPN Fantasy alert changes apply to all my leagues?
No. ESPN says changes to one league’s alert settings do not affect any other league, so each league has to be set separately in Alert Preferences.
Can I silence ESPN Fantasy only at night?
Yes. Schedule a Focus such as Do Not Disturb or Sleep in Settings > Focus. Notifications are held back during those hours and the iPhone returns to normal when the Focus ends.
Can I get rid of an old ESPN app I don’t use?
Yes. If you have more than one ESPN app installed and only use one, here is how to delete apps on an iPhone. Deleting an app also stops its notifications.
Next Step
Turn off Sounds first and see whether that is enough. If the alerts are still too frequent, trim them in Alert Preferences, and add a scheduled Focus if you want quiet hours across every app. For a wider look at the options, see how to silence notifications on an iPhone.
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are tested on current devices or checked against official product documentation, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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