A Data Feed is a way for fantasy sports games to receive sports data. These stats are used to calculate fantasy sports points.
Sports data providers have a team of statisticians who watch live sports and track all events as they happen. All the data is collected and checked before it’s distributed further.
Sports data feeds are used in various ways:
- Media: graphics, overlays, editorial, analytics etc.
- Fantasy and gaming: real-time fantasy points, betting odds, predictions, historical data, injuries, suspensions etc.
- Professional sports: performance analysis and recruitement
A data feed is accessed via an API. The data that’s included depends on the package and pricing. Live scores and events could be part of the basic offering. While lineups, live stats, trends, historical data, commentary, highlights and others are part of a more expensive subscription.
The size and popularity of the sport and league determine which and if (live) data is available.
The biggest companies that offer sports data feeds are: Stats Perform, Sportradar and Genius Sports.
