Period change triggers let you automate graphics that play when a match moves between periods, such as half-time, full-time, or the start of a new quarter, so your broadcast transitions look polished without manual input.
What Period Change Triggers Do
Period changes are key structural moments in a match. They are one of the Match Facts that Automated Game Plans can listen for, alongside goals, cards, and substitutions. By configuring playlists for these events, you can automatically display graphics like:
• Half-time score summaries
• Full-time result graphics
• Start-of-period animations
• Quarter or period break sponsor loops
• Stat recaps between periods
These playlists fire automatically based on period events recorded by the Live Scorer, or through your Game Plan's period progression.
Where Period Triggers Fit in a Game Plan
An Automated Game Plan is made up of three sections:
• Pre-Game: playlists that run before kick-off (team line-ups, sponsor intros, head-to-head stats).
• Live gameplay: event-triggered playlists that fire on Match Facts during the match (goals, cards, substitutions, and period changes).
• Post-Game: playlists that run after full-time (final results, player of the match, sponsor outros).
Period change triggers sit inside the Live gameplay section because they respond to in-match events, even though some of them (like full-time) mark the boundary between Live and Post-Game content.
Prerequisites
Before setting up period change triggers, make sure you have:
• A Competition with an overlay configured (Competition, Settings, Streams and Overlays, Overlay Settings), including an assigned Theme Instance and Game Plan.
• A Game Plan with a configured Live gameplay section.
• Period-related graphics available in your assigned Theme Instance (half-time, full-time, period start).
• A Live Scorer ready to record period events in the LiveScore App, or automation handling period timing.
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Open Your Game Plan
1. Navigate to your Competition in LIGR Live.
2. Open the Game Plan assigned to the competition's overlay.
3. Select the Live gameplay section.
[ Image placeholder: Game Plan editor with the Live gameplay section highlighted ]
Step 2: Add a Period Change Trigger
1. In the Live gameplay section, choose to add a new event-triggered playlist.
2. Select the period-related Match Fact you want to respond to. Common options include:
• Period Start
• Period End
• Half-Time
• Full-Time
1. Name the playlist clearly so it's easy to identify later (for example, "Half-Time Playlist").
[ Image placeholder: Trigger selection menu showing period change event options ]
Step 3: Build the Playlist
1. Add the graphics you want to display when the period change occurs.
2. Order them in the sequence they should appear, for example:
• Period end animation
• Score summary
• Sponsor loop
• Stat graphic
1. Adjust the duration of each graphic to control how long it stays on screen.
Step 4: Set Priority
Priority is set per playlist within a Game Plan and determines which playlist wins when more than one could fire at the same moment. Within a Game Plan, if two playlists share the same priority, the first one built fires.
Period change playlists often need to take precedence over other live content. Use priority to make sure:
• Period change graphics sit above routine live overlays.
• Lower-priority graphics (like card animations) do not interrupt the period transition.
• Graphics return to normal flow once the period change playlist finishes.
If a period transition (like full-time) should clearly outrank goal or card playlists, give it a higher priority than those event playlists.
Step 5: Consider Data Guards
Unlike goals, cards, and substitutions, period change events do not depend on player data, so they are generally safe to fire. However, if your period playlist includes graphics that reference player or team stats (for example, "Top Scorer at Half-Time"), add a guard so the playlist, or the specific graphic, only plays when that data is available. Without a guard, graphics referencing missing data can render with blank fields.
As a general rule:
• Guard any graphic that pulls player-level data (names, numbers, photos, stats).
• Leave unguarded graphics that only use team or match-level data (score, clock, competition branding).
Step 6: Test the Trigger
1. Create a test Match under the same competition.
2. Use the LiveScore App or manual controls to progress through periods.
3. Confirm that each period change plays the correct playlist in the expected order.
[ Image placeholder: Test match progressing through period events ]
Tips
• Keep period change playlists short enough to fit within natural match breaks.
• For sports with more than two periods (quarters in AFL or basketball, for example), set up a separate playlist for each period transition to keep the logic clean.
• Pair period change triggers with a sponsor loop to maximise sponsor exposure during breaks.
• If a Competition uses multiple overlays, remember that each overlay has its own Theme Instance and Game Plan. Add equivalent period playlists to each Game Plan that needs them.
Common Issues
The period change playlist does not trigger. Check that the period event is being recorded correctly in the LiveScore App, or that your Game Plan is progressing periods automatically. No event means no trigger.
Two playlists fire at the same period change, or the wrong one wins. Review the priority of each playlist. Raise the priority of the one that should take precedence, and remember that tied priorities resolve to whichever playlist was built first.
Playlist plays but graphics appear in the wrong order. Return to the Live gameplay section and check the sequence of graphics within the playlist. Re-order them as needed.
Graphics with player or stat data appear blank. Add a guard so the graphic only plays when the required data is present, or move that graphic into a separate playlist that is guarded at the playlist level.
Graphics do not appear on a secondary overlay. Each overlay on a Competition uses its own Game Plan. Confirm the period playlist exists in every Game Plan that needs it, not just your main media output.