Creating Event Groups
Event groups connect M3U stream sources to Teamarr’s sports data. Each group pulls streams from a Dispatcharr M3U account and matches them to real sporting events.
The Subscription Model
Event groups use a global subscription to determine which sports and leagues to scan. This is configured in Event Groups > Global Defaults, not per-group.
Global Defaults include:
- League subscriptions — which non-soccer leagues to scan (e.g., NFL, NBA, NHL)
- Soccer mode — how to handle soccer leagues (follow teams, select leagues, or all)
- Template assignments — which template to use by sport or league
- Team filter — include/exclude specific teams from matching
All event groups inherit these defaults. Individual groups can override the subscription if needed (see Per-Group Overrides below).
Basic Settings
When creating or editing a group:
Name
A descriptive name for the group (e.g., “ESPN+ Sports”, “NHL Backup”).
M3U Account
Select which Dispatcharr M3U account to pull streams from.
Stream Group
Select which stream group within the M3U account to use, or “All Groups” to include all streams from that account.
Channel Configuration
Channel Assignment Mode
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Auto | Teamarr assigns channel numbers sequentially from the configured range |
| Manual | You specify a fixed starting channel number for this group |
Channel Group
How channels are assigned to Dispatcharr channel groups:
- Use Default — inherit from Settings > Channels
- Static — assign all channels to a specific group
- Dynamic — use patterns like
{sport}or{league}to auto-create groups
Channel Profiles
Override the global default channel profiles for this group:
- Use Default — inherit from Settings > Dispatcharr
- Custom — choose specific profiles for this group
Dynamic wildcards like {sport} and {league} create profiles automatically in Dispatcharr.
Stream Matching
Stream Filters
Control which streams from the M3U group are processed:
- Include regex — only process streams matching this pattern
- Exclude regex — skip streams matching this pattern
Custom Regex Extractors
Override how Teamarr parses stream names. By default, the built-in classifier handles most formats. Use custom regex when your IPTV provider uses unusual naming.
| Extractor | Purpose | Example Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Teams | Extract team names | (?P<home>.*)\s*vs\s*(?P<away>.*) |
| Date | Extract date | \d{1,2}/\d{1,2}/\d{4} |
| Time | Extract time | \d{1,2}:\d{2}\s*(?:AM\|PM)? |
| League | Extract league hint | (?:NFL\|NBA\|NHL): |
| Fighters | Extract fighter names (MMA/Boxing) | (?P<fighter1>.*)\s*vs\s*(?P<fighter2>.*) |
| Event name | Extract event name | — |
Each extractor has an enable toggle. Leave disabled to use the built-in parser.
Team Filter
Override the global default team filter for this group:
- Use Default — inherit from Global Defaults
- Custom Filter — define include/exclude teams specific to this group
- Bypass for playoffs — auto-include all playoff games regardless of team filter
Per-Group Subscription Overrides
By default, groups inherit the global league subscription. To override:
- Edit the group
- Under “Subscription Override”, uncheck Use global subscription
- The picker automatically seeds from your current global subscription
- Deselect any leagues or sports you want to exclude, then save
Use Match Global at any time to reset the picker back to the current global subscription and start over.
This is useful when a stream source mixes sports and you need to exclude specific leagues from a group — for example, excluding MLB from a multi-sport group where the provider labels all streams with the same channel format regardless of sport.
Channel Sort Order
Controls how channels within this group are ordered:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Time | Sort by event start time |
| Sport, then time | Group by sport, then sort by time within each sport |
| League, then time | Group by league, then sort by time within each league |
Advanced Options
Enabled
Toggle the group on/off without deleting it. Disabled groups are skipped during EPG generation.
Priority
When multiple groups could match the same stream, higher priority groups are checked first. Lower numbers = higher priority.
Team Stream Source
Allow team-branded streams (e.g. NHL | Toronto Maple Leafs) to match events where that team plays. Built-in stream filtering is automatically bypassed for this group.
EPG Program Matching
Match static-named linear channels (e.g. ESPN, FS1, NBA1) in this group to events using Dispatcharr’s program guide, and time-share one stream across many event channels near game time. Requires the global EPG switch (Settings → EPG). Built-in filtering is bypassed for this group. See EPG Program Matching for the full guide.