BALLDONTLIE API Review 2026

BALLDONTLIE is a sports data API that started with the NBA and now covers more than 20 leagues. You send a key in an Authorization header and read JSON from api.balldontlie.io. Each league has its own docs site and its own OpenAPI spec, 41 APIs in all on the docs index (checked November 2026).

The company, BALLDONTLIE LLC, also sells StoryStats, which writes game stories from the data, plus Webhooks, a modelling tool called BDL Lab, and an official MCP server for AI tools. The site leans hard on AI use: hand an assistant the OpenAPI spec and it can write the integration. This review covers the sports data API, which is the core product.

The docs index groups its leagues by sport. Basketball has 19 entries, among them the NBA, WNBA, NCAAB, EuroLeague and several European domestic leagues. Soccer has the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Champions League, MLS and the World Cup. The rest are the NFL, NCAAF, MLB, college baseball, the NHL, ATP and WTA tennis, the PGA Tour, Formula 1, MMA, and four esports: CS2, Valorant, League of Legends and Dota 2.

The NBA docs show the depth. There are teams, players, games, per-game player stats, season averages, advanced stats, box scores (live and final), lineups, shot charts, play-by-play, injuries, standings, leaders, contracts and daily fantasy slates. The NBA data runs from 1946 to the present. Other leagues vary, so check the league's own docs before you build on a field.

Odds sit inside the same API. The NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and Premier League docs each list betting odds and player props, and the home page says they come from major US sportsbooks. A launch tutorial names FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, Bet365 and BetRivers among the vendors. Rows carry spreads, moneylines and totals in American odds, and some carry sportsbook deeplinks.

Two limits matter. Odds and props need the GOAT tier, which is $39.99 a month for each sport. And the live endpoints show current prices only: the NBA docs say player props are live and not stored. An opening-odds endpoint covers the latest completed season and ongoing ones, so for deep backtests pair it with a historical odds source. For a wider book list, see the sports odds API guide.

The Free plan is permanent and costs $0. It allows 5 requests a minute and basic endpoints for one sport, which in the NBA means teams, players and games. Paid plans, with annual billing 20% cheaper (checked November 2026):

• All-Star, $9.99 a month per sport: 60 requests a minute and extended data, such as per-game player stats, active players and injuries.
• GOAT, $39.99 a month per sport: 600 requests a minute and every endpoint, including box scores, play-by-play, odds and props.
• All-Access, $299.99 a month: every sport at 600 requests a minute, 500K webhook deliveries a month, BDL Lab and StoryStats.

Paid tiers do not carry across sports, so a GOAT plan for the NBA gives you nothing on the NFL. Each paid sport has a 7-day trial of the GOAT tier, and it needs a payment method. For other no-cost options, see our free sports API guide.

Create a free account at app.balldontlie.io. You find your key on the account settings page (checked November 2026). Free covers basic endpoints for one sport at 5 requests a minute. Paid plans are priced per sport: All-Star at $9.99 a month, GOAT at $39.99, and All-Access at $299.99 for every sport.

Every paid sport offers a 7-day trial of the GOAT tier. The trial needs a payment method, charges nothing until it ends, and caps you at 5 requests a minute. Send the key in an Authorization header with the bare key and no Bearer prefix.

The sample below lists the NBA teams with GET https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/teams, the first example in the NBA docs (checked November 2026). Teams are open to the Free plan. The response has a data array, and each team carries full_name, conference, division and abbreviation.

import os
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://api.balldontlie.io/v1/teams",
    headers={"Authorization": os.environ["BALLDONTLIE_API_KEY"]},
    timeout=30,
)
resp.raise_for_status()
for team in resp.json()["data"][:3]:
    print(team["full_name"], team["conference"], team["division"], team["abbreviation"])

We have not run this call with a key. Without a key, the same URL returns HTTP 401 when we call it.

Limits depend on the plan: 5 requests a minute on Free, 60 on All-Star, 600 on GOAT and 600 on All-Access (checked November 2026). The docs state no daily or monthly cap. List endpoints use cursor pagination, with per_page defaulting to 25 and topping out at 100. A 429 means you are rate limited; the docs show no further detail.

BALLDONTLIE has official SDKs for TypeScript and Python, and an official MCP server for AI tools. Each league has its own docs site, such as nba.balldontlie.io, with an OpenAPI spec. Support is community-based on Free and by email (hello@balldontlie.io) on paid plans, and there is a Discord. The docs name no status page.

BALLDONTLIE suits people who want clean stats from one source without an enterprise contract.

• Hobbyists and students who need NBA teams, players and games on the free plan.
• Fantasy and model builders who want box scores, advanced stats, lineups and history in a steady JSON shape.
• Bettors with a model who want US book odds and props next to the stats that feed the model.

If you cover one sport, a per-sport plan keeps the bill low. If you cover many, compare the All-Access price with other providers in the sports data API comparison.

BALLDONTLIE is easy to like. The league list is wide, the docs share one layout across leagues, the free plan is real, and the OpenAPI specs make AI-assisted builds simple. Putting odds in the same API as the stats saves a second integration.

The trade-offs are plain. Plans are priced per sport, and the free plan runs at 5 requests a minute. Streaming is by webhook on the top plan only. For a project that wants stats and US odds from one key, start with a free account and try the GOAT trial.

Last updated: 5 November 2026 · How providers get listed