ESPN API: Free Sports Data for Scores, Stats & News

What is the ESPN API?

The ESPN API refers to a collection of undocumented endpoints that developers have discovered by reverse-engineering ESPN's web and mobile applications. While ESPN doesn't offer an official public API, these hidden endpoints provide free access to a wealth of sports data:

• Real-time Scores: Live scoreboards across all major sports
• Team & Player Stats: Comprehensive statistics and performance data
• News & Headlines: Latest sports news articles
• Standings & Rankings: League standings and power rankings
• Game Summaries: Play-by-play data, box scores, and game details
• Schedules: Upcoming games and event calendars

API Base URLs

ESPN's hidden API uses several base domains, each serving different types of data:

Supported Sports & Leagues

The ESPN API covers a wide range of sports and leagues. Here are the most commonly used:

Key Endpoints

Most endpoints follow a consistent pattern: /apis/site/v2/sports/{sport}/{league}/{endpoint}

Common Query Parameters

Code Examples

Here are practical examples for fetching data from the ESPN API:

Get NFL Scores

// Fetch today's NFL scores
fetch('https://site.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/football/nfl/scoreboard')
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    data.events.forEach(game => {
      console.log(game.name, game.status.type.description);
    });
  });

import requests

# Fetch today's NFL scores
url = 'https://site.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/football/nfl/scoreboard'
response = requests.get(url)
data = response.json()

for game in data['events']:
    print(game['name'], game['status']['type']['description'])

# Fetch today's NFL scores
curl 'https://site.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/football/nfl/scoreboard'

Get NBA Game Summary

// Fetch detailed game data (replace eventId with actual game ID)
const eventId = '401584793';
const url = `https://site.web.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/basketball/nba/summary?event=${eventId}`;

fetch(url)
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log('Boxscore:', data.boxscore);
    console.log('Play-by-play:', data.plays);
  });

import requests

# Fetch detailed game data
event_id = '401584793'
url = f'https://site.web.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/basketball/nba/summary?event={event_id}'

response = requests.get(url)
data = response.json()

print('Boxscore:', data.get('boxscore'))
print('Play-by-play:', data.get('plays'))

Get Scores for Specific Date

// Fetch MLB scores for a specific date
const date = '20251001'; // YYYYMMDD format
fetch(`https://site.api.espn.com/apis/site/v2/sports/baseball/mlb/scoreboard?dates=${date}`)
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

Limitations & Considerations

• No Official Documentation: These endpoints are undocumented and discovered through reverse engineering
• No Stability Guarantee: ESPN can modify or remove endpoints at any time without notice
• Unknown Rate Limits: There's no published information about rate limiting or usage quotas
• No Support: ESPN does not provide developer support for these endpoints
• Terms of Service: Heavy automated usage may violate ESPN's terms of service

Community Resources

These community-maintained resources provide additional documentation and tools for working with the ESPN API:

Frequently Asked Questions