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API 3.0
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Football API 3.0
Football API 3.0
  • Welcome
    • 🛬Welcome
    • 🙋‍♂️Getting Started
    • 🤓What can you do with Sportmonks' data?
    • 🆕Differences between API 2 and API 3
      • API Changes
      • Syntax and filters
      • New endpoints and data features
    • 🔐Authentication
    • 👶Making your first request
    • 🔧Best Practices
  • API coach (BETA)
  • Changelog
    • 📄Changelog
    • 📁Changelog (BETA)
  • API
    • 💡Request options
      • Includes
        • Nested includes
      • Selecting fields
      • Filtering
      • Selecting and filtering
      • Ordering and sorting
    • 🔤Syntax
    • ♾️Rate limit
    • 👀Meta description
    • 📔Error codes
      • Include Exceptions
      • Filtering and Complexity Exceptions
      • Other Exceptions
    • 📚Code libraries
    • Translations (beta)
    • Demo response files
    • Data corrections
    • API 2.0 (Deprecated)
  • Endpoints and Entities
    • Endpoints
      • 📡Livescores
        • GET Inplay Livescores
        • GET All Livescores
        • GET Latest Updated Livescores
      • 🥅Fixtures
        • GET All Fixtures
        • GET Fixture by ID
        • GET Fixtures by Multiple IDs
        • GET Fixtures by Date
        • GET Fixtures by Date Range
        • GET Fixtures by Date Range for Team
        • GET Fixtures by Head To Head
        • GET Fixtures by Search by Name
        • GET Upcoming Fixtures by Market ID
        • GET Upcoming Fixtures by TV Station ID
        • GET Past Fixtures by TV Station ID
        • GET Latest Updated Fixtures
      • 🛰️States
        • GET All States
        • GET State by ID
      • ⌨️Types
        • GET All Types
        • GET Type by ID
        • GET Type by Entity
      • 🏆Leagues
        • GET All Leagues
        • GET League by ID
        • GET Leagues by Live
        • GET Leagues by Fixture Date
        • GET Leagues by Country ID
        • GET Leagues Search by Name
        • GET All Leagues by Team ID
        • GET Current Leagues by Team ID
      • 🗓️Seasons
        • GET All Seasons
        • GET Seasons by ID
        • GET Seasons by Team ID
        • GET Seasons by Search by Name
      • 📊Statistics
        • GET Season Statistics by Participant
        • GET Stage Statistics by ID
        • GET Round Statistics by ID
      • 📅Schedules
        • GET Schedules by Season ID
        • GET Schedules by Team ID
        • GET Schedules by Season ID and Team ID
      • 🪜Stages
        • GET All Stages
        • GET Stage by ID
        • GET Stages by Season ID
        • GET Stages by Search by Name
      • 🔂Rounds
        • GET All Rounds
        • GET Round by ID
        • GET Rounds by Season ID
        • GET Rounds by Search by Name
      • 🔢Standings
        • GET All Standings
        • GET Standings by Season ID
        • GET Standings by Round ID
        • GET Standing Correction by Season ID
        • Get Live Standings by League ID
      • 🥇Topscorers
        • GET Topscorers by Season ID
        • GET Topscorers by Stage ID
      • 🏃Teams
        • GET All Teams
        • GET Team by ID
        • GET Teams by Country ID
        • GET Teams by Season ID
        • GET Teams by Search by Name
      • 🧑Players
        • GET All Players
        • GET Player by ID
        • GET Players by Country ID
        • GET Players by Search by Name
        • GET Last Updated Players
      • 🧑‍🦱Team Squads
        • GET Team Squad by Team ID
        • GET Extended Team Squad by Team ID
        • GET Team Squad by Team and Season ID
      • 👨‍🏫Coaches
        • GET All Coaches
        • GET Coach by ID
        • GET Coaches by Country ID
        • GET Coaches Search by Name
        • GET Last Updated Coaches
      • 🕴️Referees
        • GET All Referees
        • GET Referee by ID
        • GET Referees by Country ID
        • GET Referees by Season ID
        • GET Referees Search by Name
      • ↔️Transfers
        • GET All Transfers
        • GET Transfer by ID
        • GET Latest Transfers
        • GET Transfers Between Date Range
        • GET Transfers by Team ID
        • GET Transfers by Player ID
      • 🏟️Venues
        • GET All Venues
        • GET Venue by ID
        • GET Venues by Season ID
        • GET Venues by Search by Name
      • 📺TV Stations
        • GET All TV Stations
        • GET TV Station by ID
        • GET TV Stations by Fixture ID
      • 🔮Expected (xG)
        • GET Expected by Team
        • GET Expected by Player
      • 🔭Predictions
        • GET Probabilities
        • GET Predictability by League ID
        • GET Probabilities by Fixture ID
        • GET Value Bets
        • GET Value Bets by Fixture ID
      • 🧙Standard Odds Feed
        • 👓Pre-match Odds
          • GET All Odds
          • Get Odds by Fixture ID
          • GET Odds by Fixture ID and Bookmaker ID
          • GET Odds by Fixture ID and Market ID
          • GET Last Updated Odds
        • 🧠Inplay Odds
          • GET All Inplay Odds
          • GET Inplay Odds by Fixture ID
          • GET Inplay Odds by Fixture ID and Bookmaker ID
          • GET Inplay Odds by Fixture ID and Market ID
          • GET Last Updated Inplay Odds
      • 🧙‍♂️Premium Odds Feed
        • 🕶️Premium Pre-match Odds
          • GET All Premium Odds
          • Get Premium Odds by Fixture ID
          • GET Premium Odds by Fixture ID and Bookmaker ID
          • GET Premium Odds by Fixture ID and Market ID
          • GET Updated Premium Odds Between Time Range
          • GET Updated Historical Odds Between Time Range
          • GET All Historical Odds
      • 🛒Markets
        • GET All Markets
        • GET All Premium Markets
        • GET Market by ID
        • GET Market by Search
      • 📑Bookmakers
        • GET All Bookmakers
        • GET All Premium Bookmakers
        • GET Bookmaker by ID
        • GET Bookmaker by Search
        • GET Bookmaker by Fixture ID
      • 📰News
        • GET Pre-Match News
        • GET Pre-Match News by Season ID
        • GET Pre-Match News for Upcoming Fixtures
        • GET Post-Match News
        • GET Post-Match News by Season ID
      • ⚔️Rivals
        • GET All Rivals
        • GET Rivals by Team ID
      • 🎙️Commentaries
        • GET All Commentaries
        • GET Commentaries by Fixture ID
    • Entities
      • 🥅Fixture
      • 🏆League, Season, Schedule, Stage and Round
      • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑Team, Player, Squad, Coach and Referee
      • 🔢Statistic
      • 🔮Expected
      • 🥇Standing and Topscorer
      • 🔭Odd and Prediction
      • Other
  • Tutorials and Guides
    • Tutorials
      • Introduction
        • Make your first request
        • Set your time zone
        • Pagination
      • Enrich your response
        • Nested includes
          • Syntax and relations
      • Includes
        • Events
        • States
        • Periods
        • Scores
        • Participants
        • Lineups
        • ballCoordinates
        • Pressure Index
        • Tips and tricks
      • Filter and select fields
        • Selecting fields
        • Filtering
        • Selecting and filtering
      • Leagues and seasons
        • Leagues
        • Seasons
      • Season schedule
        • Schedules
        • Stages
        • Rounds
      • Livescores and fixtures
        • Livescores
        • Fixtures
      • Lineups and formations
      • Statistics
        • Statistics types
        • Season statistics
        • Fixture statistics
        • Team statistics
        • Players statistics
      • Teams, players, coaches and referees
        • Teams
        • Players
        • Coaches
        • Referees
      • Standings
        • Season standings
        • Topscorer standings
      • Odds and predictions
        • Bookmakers
        • Markets
        • Pre-match odds
        • Live(Inplay) odds
        • hasOdds
        • Predictions
          • Probabilities
          • Value Bet
      • Expected
        • Endpoints
        • Includes
        • Coverage
      • News
        • Pre-match News
        • Post-match News
      • Placeholders
      • Timezone parameters on different endpoints
    • Guides
      • How-to use components
      • How-to use the Football API with Postman
      • How-to use the Football API tester
      • How-to use the Football API ID finder
      • How-to build a livescore website
      • How-to use the Predictions API
      • How-to build a match page
      • How-to build a custom plan
      • How-to build a match page with odds
      • How-to use xG data
      • How-to build a news website
      • How-to build a fantasy game guide
      • How-to use the new Champions League data
      • How-to build your World Cup application
      • How-to build a team page
      • How-to keep your database in SYNC
      • How-to use team mode in MySportmonks
    • Programming languages
      • A developers guide: Unleashing the power of the football API with JSON
      • A developers guide: Unleashing the power of the football API with PHP
      • A developers guide: Unleashing the power of the football API with Python
  • Definitions
    • 📔Response Codes
    • 🛰️States
    • ⌨️Types
      • Lineups, positions and formations
      • Events
      • Statistics
        • Coach statistics
        • Referee statistics
        • Stage statistics
        • Season statistics
        • Fixture statistics
        • Team statistics
        • Player statistics
      • Expected
      • Leagues and stages
      • Standings
      • Transfers
      • Highlights
      • Weather and pitch
  • FAQ
    • API 3.0
    • Odds
    • Integration
    • Sportmonks
  • Quicklinks
    • Postman
    • ID Finder
    • Sportmonks
    • MySportmonks
    • Football widgets
    • Plans and Pricing
    • Data features
    • FAQ
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Our API provides well-structured responses with strictly typed entities, such as statistics and lineups. This page provides best practices for using our data effectively in sports applications.

Initial data load

Most of our endpoints support pagination, which means that you need to make multiple requests to retrieve all data. To make this process more efficient, we have added several options for fetching data and keeping it up to date.

You can use the filters=populate query parameter on any endpoint to enable or disable certain features. When enabled, it disables all possible includes to avoid large responses and allows pagination with a page size of 1000 records. This significantly reduces the number of requests required to retrieve all data.

After you have retrieved all data, you can use the idAfter filter (ex. filters=idAfter:50000) to keep your database in sync. This filter allows you to specify an ID, and it will only fetch records with IDs greater than the specified ID on the requested entity. You can quickly load and maintain your database using the idAfter filter combined with the populate filter.

Reducing includes and response data

Our API uses Types extensively, often available as optional includes on most endpoints. To reduce the number of includes in your requests, we recommend storing Types in your database or cache. This way, you can determine an entity type without using an include all the time. Here's a complete list of the entities we recommend caching:

  • States

  • Types

  • Continents

  • Countries

  • Regions

  • Cities

Caching these entities can reduce the number of includes in your requests by up to half, saving bandwidth and improving response times.

CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)

If you are developing your sports application in your browser, you might be running into something similar to the following error:

"Request from origin https://your_domain.com has been blocked by CORS policy: No 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header is present on the requested resource"

This is because you are directly integrating our API into the front-end of your application (most likely a browser). Directly integrating an API into the frontend of a web application can be risky as it can expose sensitive information, such as your Sportmonks API token, to potential security breaches.

To avoid this, it is best practice to use a middleware, such as a backend or proxy server, to handle all communication between the frontend and the API. This middleware acts as an intermediary, making sure your API tokens are stored securely and not exposed to users. Using middleware makes it much harder for malicious actors to access sensitive information, keeping your application more secure overall.

Rate Limiting

To ensure fair usage and maintain optimal performance for all users, adhere to our rate limiting policies:

  • Familiarise yourself with our API rate limits and throttle your requests accordingly to avoid exceeding these limits. Exceeding the rate limits may result in temporary restrictions or suspension of access to the API.

  • Implement client-side rate limiting to prevent excessive requests from overwhelming our servers. By adhering to reasonable request frequencies, you contribute to a smoother experience for all users of our API.

Optimised querying & filtering

Make the most of advanced search options like filtering by certain characteristics or organising data, making it easier to find what you're looking for in big sets of data. Use caching techniques to save regularly used or complex search results. This saves time by cutting down on repetitive searches and makes your application work better overall.

  1. You can store commonly accessed entities, like as teams and types in a local cache to reduce the frequency of API calls and improve response times. This allows you to quickly retrieve entities from the cache without making additional API requests.

  2. You can cache API responses to avoid redundant requests for data that does not frequently change. For instance, you can cache the responses of historical endpoints for statistics or standings.

Last updated 1 year ago

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  1. Welcome

🔧Best Practices

PreviousMaking your first requestNextAPI coach (BETA)
  • Initial data load
  • Reducing includes and response data
  • CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)
  • Rate Limiting
  • Optimised querying & filtering