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Pro Football Reference API

Definitive NFL historical statistics since 1920

8.6 / 10Very GoodVerified
American Football
Starting PriceFree
Free TierYes
Live DataNo
WebSocketNo
Commercial UseNo
Visit WebsiteView Documentation

Overview

Pro Football Reference is the most comprehensive source for historical NFL statistics, covering every player, team, and game since the league's founding in 1920. Part of the Sports Reference family, it provides career stats, season splits, game logs, advanced metrics (ANY/A, passer rating, DVOA-style metrics), team efficiency stats, historical box scores, and draft data. The data is accessible through community Python packages and web scraping, making it essential for football analytics and research.

Pros

  • Most comprehensive NFL historical data
  • Data going back to 1920
  • Advanced metrics (ANY/A, passer rating)
  • Draft and combine data
  • Play Index for custom queries
  • AFL and defunct league data

Cons

  • No official public REST API
  • Data access primarily via scraping
  • No commercial use without license
  • No real-time or live data
  • Scraping may violate ToS
  • No WebSocket streaming

Best For

NFL analytics researchFootball history projectsPlayer and team comparisonsDraft analysisFantasy football research

Not Ideal For

Live game trackingReal-time applicationsCommercial products without licenseBetting platforms needing live data

Specifications

REST APIYes
GraphQLNo
WebSocketNo
WebhooksNo
OpenAPI SpecNo
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo
Historical Data1920 season onward (NFL/AFL); complete postseason history; Super Bowl era (1966+) detailed stats
Request LimitsWeb-based access; rate limited for scraping
Commercial UseNo
RedistributionNo
White LabelNo

SDKs

PythonR

Leagues

NFLAFLAAFCCollege FootballUSFLXFL
Last verified: 2026-08-15

Our Verdict

8.6/ 10

Pro Football Reference API is a top-tier sports API that excels in nfl analytics research and football history projects. With an overall score of 8.6/10, it stands out for its most comprehensive nfl historical data and data going back to 1920.

Editorial: 8.8/10Benchmark: 8.3/10How we score →
Data verified: 2026-08-15
✓ Pricing checked✓ Coverage checked✓ Docs checked

Coverage

Sports Supported

American Football
Live DataNo
Historical Data1920 season onward (NFL/AFL); complete postseason history; Super Bowl era (1966+) detailed stats
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo

Leagues & Competitions

NFLAFLAAFCCollege FootballUSFLXFL

6 leagues and competitions covered

Developer Experience

API Paradigms

✓REST
✗GraphQL
✗WebSocket
✗Webhooks

SDKs

PythonR

Documentation

View Documentation →Changelog →

Commercial Terms

✗Commercial use
✗Redistribution
✗White-label
Rate limit: Web-based access; rate limited for scraping

Pricing Plans

Free Web Access

Free

N/A

  • All stat tables
  • Player pages
  • Team pages
  • Season and career stats

Stathead Football

$9.99/month

Unlimited queries

  • Play Index
  • Game finders
  • Player finders
  • Split finders
  • Custom queries

Stathead Annual

$75/year

Unlimited queries

  • All Stathead features
  • Priority support
  • Savings over monthly

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Top Lists & Rankings

Best Sports APIs 2026 →Best Free Sports APIs →Best Fantasy Sports APIs →All Best Lists →

Developer Guides

Build a Live Score App →Caching Sports Data →Rate Limit Handling →Error Handling & Retry →All Developer Guides →