Registration FAQs

What is an API request?

API stands for "Application Programming Interface." Basically, an API is how computers talk to each other to share data. Web applications will request data through an API, with the path and parameters provided defining what data is returned.

How do I get started sampling feeds?

You can get access to our complete set of data feeds by following these steps:

1. Register for a user account
2. Register your application
3. Navigate to My Account
4. Select Get API Keys

When does my trial API key run out?

Trial API keys will last for 90 days. However, we are willing to work with our prospective customers to allow ample time to sample all of our data feeds.

How many requests can I make with my trial API keys?

Each trial key is specific to a single sport, and is limited to 1,000 total calls over a rolling 30 day period.

How do I get access to a higher number of API requests?

Contact our sales group and they will work with you to provide the access level you need to evaluate our products.

Will I be able to see all the data with my trial API key?

A trial key allows you access to the same data as is made available with a production key. A trial key allows you less calls per month as well as less calls per second rate or throttle limit compared to the other tiers. The data itself is not throttled or updated at a lesser frequency between trial and production access levels.

Do your APIs support CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) requests?

No. Sportradar’s APIs are B2B (Business-to-Business) and are not intended to be called directly from a client application. The expectation is that you pull from our APIs, store the data, and then serve it directly to your customers.

Where do I find feed documentation?

We have two types of feed documentation. For product managers evaluating our coverage, our documentation page has detailed documents outlining every data point included in each feed. For developers parsing our feeds, we provide XSD files in our API gallery.

Why do you base your pricing tiers on the number of API requests I make?

The sports media and fantasy sports industries place a premium on update speed, so we have made substantial investments to generate real-time data feeds. We price our product tiers based on the frequency a customer pulls from these real-time feeds.

How many API requests do I need?

On our pricing page there is a table that provides the number of monthly requests needed to update a single feed at various frequencies. We will work with you to determine the appropriate number of API requests you need to meet your product requirements.

What happens when I exceed my allocated number of requests?

We use two forms of rate limiting for each API we provide. First, depending on your contract level, we limit how many calls per second we accept from a particular account key to prevent overloading the API from a burst of activity. If you exceed this limit, you will receive an HTTP/1.1 403 error ("Forbidden - Account Over Queries Per Second Limit") until the next second begins. Second, we specify how many calls each account key can make over a month. If you exceed this limit, we return a 403 error ("Forbidden - Account Over Rate Limit"). It is up to customers to monitor their contracted API usage.

Why is one sport more expensive than another?

There are two main factors which dictate sport pricing. The first factor is our costs. For example, NFL data collection requires more live data analysts than do other sports to capture all the relevant game action. Another example of a more costly sport is MLB, which has a significant number of games to collect data from each month. The second factor is the value of the data in the marketplace. Media and fantasy companies typically generate more revenue on NFL and MLB data, than on NBA and NHL.

Will I be charged a fee during the off-season months?

No, you will only be charged a licensing fee during the months in which teams play games for a given sport.

Are the monthly fees the same during the preseason, postseason or any months with fewer games?

Yes, the monthly costs are generally lower during months in which there are fewer games. We do not have standard rates for those months, however, as many customers require data during months where there are a mix of pre-season/regular or regular/postseason, while others may only want postseason data. We work with each customer to determine a fair price for these months.

Do I need separate keys for different versions of your APIs?

Yes, each version of our APIs require a key (e.g., NFL v6 and NFL v7 require separate keys). If you currently have a key to an API that has a new version released, either we will create a key for you as part of the new version release, or you're current key will be forward-compatible to the new version. If a new key is issued, this new key can be viewed on the My Account page when you login to the Sportradar API Portal and will have the same request limits as you're key to the previous version. When a new version is created, Sportradar support will send a notification to the email address used to register with our Portal.

Does Sportradar have a data quality team to ensure accurate data?

We do have a quality team - it is modeled much like a "pit boss" structure you would see in a casino. There are multiple layers of validation (checked against multiple public sources) to make sure that each stat is spot-on with the official league statistic. The data entry analyst has a "pit-boss" that typically has about 6 events he or she monitors. The "pit-boss" validates that the data is matching public sources in a timely manner and addresses issues immediately. There is then a supervisor who is checking on all the pit-bosses to make sure their games are tight as well (and then is available to address any scoring issues or concerns). We automate as much of this process as possible so that the validation (and alerts) highlight inconsistencies quickly and aggressively. The validation process is both automated and checked with human fail-safes to make sure we provide the highest quality possible.