Schedules

Prerequisite - Accessing Available Seasons

To avoid confusion and ensure you're accessing available data, refer to our Seasons feed. This resource lists all the seasons for which we have data.

For example: To ensure data availability for future seasons, such as a schedule in advance of when a season begins, first check the Seasons feed to verify that data for that specific season is already provided.

Starting with this feed can prevent unnecessary errors and streamline your data retrieval process.

Scheduling Feeds Available

Accessing the schedule is fundamental to your integration and essential in critical scenarios. For instance, if you need to retrieve live game data, you'll first need to pull a schedule feed to obtain the game IDs for the specific games you're targeting.

You can access WNBA scheduling data using the following feeds:

• Daily Schedule - This feed provides the date, time, location, and other event details for every game scheduled within the WNBA's league-defined day. It's particularly useful if you're looking for the schedule of games on a specific day.
  Note: A league-defined day refers to the 24-hour period set by the WNBA during which all scheduled games and events for that day occur.
• Schedule - Provides the date, time, location, and other event details for every match-up throughout the entire WNBA season.
• Series Schedule - Playoff participant information as well as the date, time, location, and other event details for every match-up taking place for the entire playoffs

{
  "date": "2024-06-30",
  "league": {
    "id": "59c24590-0adb-4b3d-80a8-10450f83f4a1",
    "name": "WNBA",
    "alias": "WNBA"
  },
  "games": [
    {
      "id": "ec6af5ff-410d-4a2d-8a96-5bf98e663b56",
      "status": "closed",
      "coverage": "full",
      "scheduled": "2024-06-30T17:00:00Z",
      "home_points": 81,
      "away_points": 75,
      "track_on_court": true,
      "sr_id": "sr:match:46601745",
      "reference": "1022400106",
      "cc_cup": false,
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Eastern",
        "home": "US/Eastern",
        "away": "US/Eastern"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "7a330bcd-ac0f-50ca-bc29-2460e5c476b3",
        "name": "Barclays Center",
        "capacity": 17732,
        "address": "620 Atlantic Avenue",
        "city": "Brooklyn",
        "state": "NY",
        "zip": "11217",
        "country": "USA",
        "sr_id": "sr:venue:36132",
        "location": {
          "lat": "40.682957",
          "lng": "-73.975165"
        }
      },
      "broadcasts": [
        {
          "network": "ESPN",
          "type": "TV",
          "locale": "National",
          "channel": "206"
        }
      ],
      "home": {
        "name": "New York Liberty",
        "alias": "NYL",
        "id": "08ed8274-e29f-4248-bc2e-83cc8ed18d75",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3446"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Atlanta Dream",
        "alias": "ATL",
        "id": "5d70a9af-8c2b-4aec-9e68-9acc6ddb93e4",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:35545"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "d66c2b19-a532-4f59-ac94-f52b91aa70a8",
      "status": "closed",
      "coverage": "full",
      "scheduled": "2024-06-30T19:00:00Z",
      "home_points": 62,
      "away_points": 70,
      "track_on_court": true,
      "sr_id": "sr:match:46601657",
      "reference": "1022400107",
      "cc_cup": false,
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Central",
        "home": "US/Central",
        "away": "US/Central"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "fa4fcd34-792a-4cdc-a7df-a41e9d54a2b0",
        "name": "Wintrust Arena",
        "capacity": 10387,
        "address": "200 East Cermak Road",
        "city": "Chicago",
        "state": "IL",
        "zip": "60616",
        "country": "USA",
        "sr_id": "sr:venue:22190",
        "location": {
          "lat": "41.853611",
          "lng": "-87.621389"
        }
      },
      "broadcasts": [
        {
          "network": "ESPN3",
          "type": "Internet"
        },
        {
          "network": "The U",
          "type": "TV",
          "locale": "Home"
        },
        {
          "network": "BSNX",
          "type": "TV",
          "locale": "Away",
          "channel": "668-1"
        }
      ],
      "home": {
        "name": "Chicago Sky",
        "alias": "CHI",
        "id": "3c409388-ab73-4c7f-953d-3a71062240f6",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:35546"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Minnesota Lynx",
        "alias": "MIN",
        "id": "6f017f37-be96-4bdc-b6d3-0a0429c72e89",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3440"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "e0780a27-9581-4a7a-ad48-ab86341dfce0",
      "status": "closed",
      "coverage": "full",
      "scheduled": "2024-06-30T19:00:00Z",
      "home_points": 82,
      "away_points": 88,
      "track_on_court": true,
      "sr_id": "sr:match:46601631",
      "reference": "1022400108",
      "cc_cup": false,
      "time_zones": {
        "venue": "US/Arizona",
        "home": "US/Arizona",
        "away": "US/Eastern"
      },
      "venue": {
        "id": "1d2e59b2-2479-5f84-a6a7-e82f65dd8442",
        "name": "Footprint Center",
        "capacity": 18422,
        "address": "201 E. Jefferson Street",
        "city": "Phoenix",
        "state": "AZ",
        "zip": "85004",
        "country": "USA",
        "sr_id": "sr:venue:6938",
        "location": {
          "lat": "33.445833",
          "lng": "-112.071389"
        }
      },
      "broadcasts": [
        {
          "network": "ESPN",
          "type": "TV",
          "locale": "National",
          "channel": "206"
        }
      ],
      "home": {
        "name": "Phoenix Mercury",
        "alias": "PHO",
        "id": "0699edf3-5993-4182-b9b4-ec935cbd4fcc",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3444"
      },
      "away": {
        "name": "Indiana Fever",
        "alias": "IND",
        "id": "f073a15f-0486-4179-b0a3-dfd0294eb595",
        "sr_id": "sr:team:3452"
      }
    }
  ]
}

How to Load Schedule Data

1. Find the correct season number: For example, to retrieve data for the 2024 WNBA season, you would use 2024 as the value for the season parameter. You can use the Seasons feed to see the most current season we have data for.
2. If applicable, utilize the correct season type for the data you want. Available season types for WNBA include:
   1. PRE: Pre-Season - Games that occur before the start of the regular season.
   2. REG: Regular Season - Games that take place during the standard, scheduled part of the season.
   3. PST: Post-Season - Games that occur after the conclusion of the regular season.
   4. CC: Commissioner's Cup - Special tournaments that are held during the regular season but are distinct from regular season games.
3. Set your calls based on the update frequency of the schedule feeds:
   1. Schedule feeds have a TTL/Cache of 10 seconds.
   2. Pull them every hour or less depending on your use case.
      Note: These feeds should be used for schedule info prior to a game start. For status of a live game, reference a "game" endpoint.
   3. Schedule information is updated in realtime as changes are made.
4. Monitor updates to the current schedule: You can do this using the Daily Change Log feed. This feed provides IDs and timestamps for schedules as well as players, game statistics, and standings that have been modified on a given date. Learn more in the Daily Change Log section.

Schedule Releases

Schedules are typically released during the following timeframes:

• Preseason (PRE): Released in early August.
• Regular Season (REG): Released mid-August.
• Postseason (PST): Announced near the end of the regular season, often in April, once playoff standings are set.
• Play-In Tournament (PIT): Released at the end of the regular season, typically just before the postseason schedule, depending on final standings.

Update Frequency for Schedules

The WNBA schedule is first uploaded within a day of its official release. Throughout the season, our Production team continuously monitors updates from various sources and tools, making adjustments to game details such as start times, broadcast information, and adding new games as they are announced.

Displaying Team Schedules

A great way to utilize the schedule endpoints is to display a specific team's schedule on your platform. By pulling data such as game dates, times, and venues, you can create a clear and accessible view of upcoming matchups for your users.

Suggested Steps:

1. Retrieve the full schedule data: Use the schedule or daily schedule endpoints to pull raw data, which includes game details like team names, game IDs, dates, times, and venues.

2. Filter by team: Once the data is retrieved, you can filter the schedule by the team's unique ID (e.g., team_id or sr_id). This will isolate only the games where the selected team is either the home or away team.

3. Sort the games chronologically: After filtering for the team, you can sort the games by date and time (scheduled field) to ensure the schedule is displayed in the correct order.

4. Format the data for display: Extract relevant data fields, such as opponent team, game date, venue, and broadcast information. Format this data into a readable structure like a table, list, or calendar.

5. Handle time zones and broadcast info: Use the time_zones and broadcasts fields to ensure the correct time and broadcast network are displayed to users, potentially converting times to the user's local time zone.

Example - Schedule for the Atlanta Dream:

This is an example of how you can render a team-specific WNA schedule using data from the schedule API. You can create a dropdown that lets users select a team (e.g., Dream), and you can have the schedule update to reflect the selected team. The list shows each game’s date, opponent, and time, making it easy for users to follow their team. You can filter the schedule by team ID and display the results in a clean, user-friendly format like this one.

📸

Accessing Headshots and Team Logos

To access team logos and player headshots, use the Images API.

Showcasing Recent Games

The following visual showcases recent game data for the Chicago Sky. This example shows how you can use the schedule feeds to showcase recent games. You can also group recent games by season (for example, preseason and regular) achieve by pulling the schedule feed for both preseason and regular games, filtering the data by team and closed games, and displaying key details like date, opponent, and result.

Game Status

For detailed information on game statuses, including definitions and code examples for each status, please visit our Game Status Workflow page.

Daily Change Log

The Daily Change Log endpoint allows for efficient tracking of daily changes to the WNBA API without depleting your API call limits. It updates you on significant changes like schedule adjustments, game results, player updates (such as name or number changes), and team modifications.