How to use statistics of football teams and players for betting?

Modern sports and betting on them are becoming increasingly digital and analytical. To make informed decisions, it is important to have access to accurate and up-to-date information about matches, teams, and players. This is where sports APIs come in — interfaces that allow you to obtain structured data automatically, without manual data collection.

One of the popular solutions is API-sport, which provides extensive data on football, hockey, basketball, tennis, and other sports. Such a service is useful for:

• Developers creating applications and analytical platforms;

• Betting platforms looking to automate odds calculation;

• Sports media for publishing statistics and infographics;

• Analysts and forecasters for building models and assessing the probabilities of match outcomes.

What is API-sport?

API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of methods and rules that allow you to obtain data from external services. API-sport — is a specialized platform for obtaining sports information in real-time and for past periods.

API-sport quickly gained popularity due to its ease of integration, wide coverage of sports disciplines, and minimal latency in live data transmission.

Available data:

• Match results and live scores;

• Team lineups and player statistics;

• Tables, tournament positions, and archives of past seasons;

• Transfers and events in real-time.

Features of API-sport:

API-sport is distinguished by very fast data transmission due to minimal latency when using WebSocket, which is especially important for live betting. At the same time, the service saves server resources: instead of the full volume of data, only changes are sent, which reduces load and traffic. The platform covers a wide range of sports and tournaments, including popular esports, and the convenient and clear documentation along with ready-made SDKs allows for easy and quick integration of the API into applications and services.

How to use statistics of football teams and players for betting?

API-sport provides everything necessary for analysis and betting:

• Match results in real-time;

• Odds and outcome probabilities;

• Player statistics (goals, assists, shots, cards);

• Team lineups and substitutions;

• Information on transfers and team history;

• Archive data for trend analysis and past seasons.

Supported sports

API-sport supports:

• Football;

• Hockey;

• Basketball;

• Tennis;

• Esports (CS:GO, Dota2, LoL, etc.);

• Other popular disciplines, including individual sports.

Technologies and formats

To obtain data, API-sport offers several convenient methods. The classic option is the REST API, which allows you to make requests to the server and receive the necessary information as needed. For working with live data, WebSocket is available, providing event streaming with virtually no delay. And the data comes in universal formats JSON and XML, making integration with various platforms and applications simple and flexible.

How to access the API and pricing

To use API-sport, you need to:

1. Register on the service;
2. Obtain an API key;
3. Choose a plan (free or paid).

10. RapidAPI, SportRadar, and other platforms provide access to BetsAPI and Livescore API through their channels. This is convenient for developers who need ready-made integrations and reliable SLAs.

For quick testing or integration through third-party platforms, you can use:

• RapidAPI;

• SportRadar;

• Other API aggregators.

12. Free plans usually include limited access to historical data and basic statistics. Paid subscriptions unlock:

• Free: limited data set, delay in live results, request limits;

• Paid: full access to live and archive data, high update speed, extended limits.

17. Number of requests per minute/hour

When working with API-sport you need to consider some limitations. First, there is a limit on the number of requests per minute or hour so that the server can handle the load. Second, the update speed of live data determines how quickly match events arrive. And finally, there are limits on the number of simultaneously open connections via WebSocket, which is important to consider when integrating streaming data into applications.

API Integration

Connection examples

Python:

import requests

url = «https://api.api-sport.ru/football/matches»
headers = {«X-API-KEY»: «your_key»}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
data = response.json()
print(data)

JavaScript:

fetch(«https://api.api-sport.ru/football/matches», {
headers: { «X-API-KEY»: «your_key» }
})
.then(res => res.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))

Integration into CMS and mobile applications

• WordPress: connection via plugins and widgets;

• Android/iOS: usage via REST API or WebSocket;

• Built-in analytical dashboards and interactive tables for users.

Using live data via WebSocket

Using live data via WebSocket offers a number of significant advantages. Events arrive almost instantly, allowing for quick responses to what is happening in the match. This also saves traffic and server resources, as only changes are transmitted, not the entire volume of data. Moreover, WebSocket ensures the correct order of event arrival, which is especially important for the proper functioning of live betting.

Where is it used?

• In betting and odds scanners: arbitrage, line movement, betting forecasts;

• In sports analytics and predictions: model building, backtesting, value bet assessment;

• In media and fan applications: real-time feeds, match cards, interactive infographics;

• Fantasy Sports and esports: points calculation, team lineups, live updates;

• BI systems and Big Data projects: big data analytics and trend forecasting.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• Wide coverage of sports disciplines;

• Minimal latency of live data;

• Accuracy and relevance of statistics;

• Simple integration and SDK for different languages.

Cons:

• Cost of paid plans;

• Limitations on the number of requests;

• Technical preparation is required for integration.

Alternatives to API-sport.

Among the alternatives to API-sport, there are several popular services, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, SportRadar offers a wide range of sports data and covers many tournaments, but its use is more expensive. Football-Data is great for working with basic statistics and historical data, making it convenient for analytics and research of past seasons. BetsAPI is optimized for odds calculation and match outcome analysis, however, the number of supported sports is limited here.

Using these competitors is advisable in certain cases. For large international projects with high traffic, SportRadar may be a more reliable solution. If working with rare or specific disciplines that API-sport supports only limitedly is required, alternative sources should be considered. Third-party APIs are also relevant when integrating into existing systems that use other platforms to maintain compatibility and simplify technical implementation.

In summary

Using statistics of football teams and players via API-sport allows for accurate predictions, automating bets, building analytical dashboards, and integrating data into applications and websites. This tool is useful for both professional bettors and sports analysts.

Registration: https://app.api-sport.ru/register

Our TG channel with updates: https://t.me/apisportru.

FAQ

Is there free access?
Yes, API-sport provides a free plan with a limited set of data.

What sports are supported?
Football, hockey, basketball, tennis, esports, and other popular disciplines.

Is the API suitable for betting?
Yes, API-sport is perfect for odds calculation and match outcome analysis.

How to connect the API to the application?
Via REST API or WebSocket, code examples are available for Python and JavaScript.

Can the API be used for predictions?
Yes, the statistics of teams and players allow building forecasting models.

How quickly do live data arrive?
Data comes almost instantly via WebSocket, the delay is minimal.