Automated Game Plan triggers are the rules that tell LIGR Live which playlists to play automatically during a match. When they don't fire as expected, this guide helps you work out why.
This article walks through how Game Plans, playlists, and triggers fit together, the most common reasons triggers fail to play, and how to confirm that Match Facts are reaching LIGR from the LiveScore App.
Prerequisites
Before troubleshooting, make sure you have:
• An Automated Game Plan assigned to the Competition overlay your match is using
• A Live Scorer recording Match Facts in the LiveScore App (or access to record them yourself)
• Playlists already configured in the Game Plan's Pre-Game, Live gameplay, or Post-Game sections
How Automated Game Plans Work
An Automated Game Plan is a structured set of playlists, grouped into three sections:
• Pre-Game: runs before kick-off (for example, team line-ups, head-to-head stats, sponsor loops).
• Live gameplay: event-triggered playlists that respond to Match Facts recorded during the match (goals, cards, substitutions, period changes).
• Post-Game: runs after full time (for example, final score, player of the match, sponsor wrap).
Each playlist contains one or more graphics that play in sequence. Playlists are assigned a priority, which determines what happens when two playlists want to fire at the same moment. Within a Game Plan, when two playlists share the same priority the first built fires.
A Game Plan is assigned to an overlay at the Competition level (Competition, Settings, Streams and Overlays, Overlay Settings), together with a Theme Instance. A Competition can have multiple overlays, each with its own Theme Instance and Game Plan, so always confirm which overlay you are troubleshooting.
Start With the Basics
Before diving into advanced checks, confirm the fundamentals are in place.
1. Confirm the match is running an Automated Game Plan
If the match is set to run manually, automated triggers will not fire even though a Game Plan exists. Confirm the match is set to the Automated Game Plan for the overlay you are monitoring.
2. Confirm the correct Game Plan is assigned
Matches inherit their Game Plan from the Competition overlay settings. Open the Competition settings, check the overlay in use, and confirm that the Game Plan assigned contains the triggers you expect (for example, a goal-triggered playlist in the Live gameplay section).
3. Confirm the Theme Instance is correct
If the Competition has multiple overlays (for example, a full-graphics stream and a scoreboard-only stream), each overlay has its own Theme Instance and its own Game Plan. A trigger may be firing on one overlay but not the one you are monitoring. Check you are looking at the correct overlay output.
Check the Game Plan Configuration
If the basics look right, the issue usually sits inside the Game Plan itself.
Live gameplay triggers not firing
Live gameplay playlists respond to Match Facts. The common event triggers are:
• Goal
• Yellow Card, Red Card
• Substitution
• Period change (start of period, end of period, half time, full time)
For each trigger you are testing:
• Open the Live gameplay section of the Game Plan.
• Confirm a playlist is attached to the event type in question.
• Confirm the playlist contains at least one graphic.
• Check the priority set against that playlist. A higher-priority playlist firing at the same moment may be taking precedence.
• If two playlists share the same priority, remember the first built fires, so reorder or re-prioritise as needed.
Playlist guards for missing player data
Event-triggered playlists often display player-specific information (for example, goal scorer, carded player, substituted player). If a Match Fact is recorded without a linked player (for instance, an own goal entered without a player selected, or a card logged against a player not on the squad list), a graphic that expects player data can fail to play cleanly or display blank fields.
To guard against this:
• Build playlists so that the player-dependent graphic only fires when the required player data is present.
• Provide a fallback graphic that does not rely on player data (for example, a generic "Goal" graphic) for cases where the scorer is missing.
• Check the Match Fact in the LiveScore App and make sure the player is selected before the event is saved.
Pre-Game or Post-Game playlists not running
• Confirm the playlist is placed in the correct section (Pre-Game or Post-Game).
• Check the duration and timing settings for each graphic in the playlist.
• Confirm the match status has moved into the relevant phase. Pre-Game plays before kick-off, Post-Game plays after full time. If the match has not yet transitioned into that phase, the playlist will not run.
Scoreline not updating on a goal
If a goal-triggered playlist plays but the scoreline on screen does not update, the issue is usually that the Match Fact was not saved correctly in the LiveScore App, or the match state did not register the score change. Confirm the goal Match Fact is present in the match timeline and shows the correct score before looking at the Game Plan.
Check That Match Facts Are Reaching LIGR
Automated triggers rely entirely on Match Facts being recorded in the LiveScore App. If no Match Facts come through, no Live gameplay triggers will fire.
1. Open the LiveScore App and confirm the scorer is logged in to the correct match.
2. Record a test Match Fact (for example, a goal).
3. Check that the event appears in the match timeline.
4. If the event appears but no graphic plays, the issue is inside the Game Plan (playlist configuration, priority, or a guard condition). If the event does not appear at all, the issue is with the LiveScore App connection.
[ Image placeholder: LiveScore App match timeline alongside the LIGR match event feed for comparison ]
Tips
• Test your Game Plan with a dummy match before gameday. Record sample Match Facts for every event type you rely on, including edge cases like own goals and unlisted players.
• Keep playlist priorities simple. Overlapping high-priority playlists are the most common cause of "missing" graphics.
• When two playlists must share a priority, remember the first built fires, and order your build accordingly.
• Always guard player-dependent playlists with a fallback for missing data.
Common Issues
• Graphic plays late or cuts off: check the duration and timing of each graphic in the playlist.
• Two graphics try to play at once: review the priority set against each playlist in the Live gameplay section.
• Event-triggered playlist clashes with a Pre-Game or sponsor playlist: check timing and priority so event triggers can take precedence.
• Ads appear instead of the expected graphic: for organisations using inbuilt themes, check Ad Allocation settings on the Competition, Club, or Team. For organisations using Rive themes, check the ads configured inside the Game Plan playlists for that moment.
• Trigger works on one overlay but not another: each overlay has its own Theme Instance and Game Plan, so the playlist needs to exist in both configurations.
• Player-specific graphic plays with blank fields: the Match Fact was saved without a linked player. Add a guard or fallback, and correct the Match Fact in the LiveScore App.
• Nothing fires at all: confirm the match is running the Automated Game Plan and that a Game Plan is assigned to the overlay.