# Live Sports Scores & Fixtures API (ESPN) (`ichigowa/live-sports-scores`) Actor Live scores, schedules and final results for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, EPL, MLS, NCAAF and NCAAB as clean normalized JSON from ESPN's public API. No API key needed. Unofficial, not affiliated with ESPN. - **URL**: https://apify.com/ichigowa/live-sports-scores.md - **Developed by:** [kyle herman](https://apify.com/ichigowa) (community) - **Categories:** Sports, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing $0.10 / 1,000 score rows This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Live Sports Scores API — ESPN Scores as Clean JSON (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, EPL...) Get **live sports scores**, upcoming fixtures and final results for major leagues as **normalized JSON** — powered by ESPN's public scoreboard API. No API key, no scraping brittle HTML. One run returns every game for the leagues and date you choose: **NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, English Premier League (EPL), MLS, NCAA football and NCAA men's basketball**. Perfect if you searched for: *live sports scores api*, *espn scores api*, *nfl nba scores json*, *free sports schedule api*, *game results json feed*. > **Disclaimer:** This is an unofficial actor. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ESPN. Data comes from ESPN's publicly accessible JSON endpoints and may change or become unavailable at any time. ### Why this actor - ✅ **Normalized schema** across all leagues — same fields for NBA and Premier League. - ✅ **Live, scheduled and final** games in a single dataset, with a status filter. - ✅ **Any date** — today by default, or pass `date` for schedules & historical results. - ✅ **Fast & concurrent** — leagues fetched in parallel; one failing league never kills the run. - ✅ **No auth, no proxies needed.** ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `leagues` | array | `["nba","nfl","mlb","nhl"]` | League codes (see table below). | | `date` | string | `""` (today) | `YYYY-MM-DD` or `YYYYMMDD`. | | `statusFilter` | enum | `all` | `all`, `live`, `scheduled`, or `final`. | #### Supported league codes | Code | League | ESPN path | |---|---|---| | `nfl` | NFL | football/nfl | | `nba` | NBA | basketball/nba | | `mlb` | MLB | baseball/mlb | | `nhl` | NHL | hockey/nhl | | `epl` | English Premier League | soccer/eng.1 | | `mls` | Major League Soccer | soccer/usa.1 | | `ncaaf` | NCAA College Football | football/college-football | | `ncaab` | NCAA Men's Basketball | basketball/mens-college-basketball | ### Output schema One dataset row per game: | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `league` | string | League code from input (e.g. `nba`). | | `event_id` | string | ESPN event id (stable, dedupe-safe). | | `name` | string | Full matchup, e.g. `Memphis Grizzlies at Atlanta Hawks`. | | `short_name` | string | e.g. `MEM @ ATL`. | | `start_time_utc` | string | ISO 8601 UTC kickoff/tip-off time. | | `status` | string | `scheduled` \| `live` \| `final`. | | `status_detail` | string | Human detail, e.g. `Final`, `End of 3rd Quarter`. | | `home_team` / `away_team` | string | Full team names. | | `home_abbr` / `away_abbr` | string | Team abbreviations. | | `home_score` / `away_score` | int \| null | `null` for scheduled games. | | `venue` | string | Stadium/arena name. | | `fetched_at` | string | ISO 8601 UTC fetch timestamp. | ```json { "league": "nba", "event_id": "401898388", "name": "Memphis Grizzlies at Atlanta Hawks", "short_name": "MEM @ ATL", "start_time_utc": "2026-10-05T23:00:00Z", "status": "scheduled", "status_detail": "Mon, October 5th at 7:00 PM EDT", "home_team": "Atlanta Hawks", "home_abbr": "ATL", "home_score": null, "away_team": "Memphis Grizzlies", "away_abbr": "MEM", "away_score": null, "venue": "State Farm Arena", "fetched_at": "2026-07-21T15:00:00Z" } ```` ### Use cases - **n8n / Make / Zapier automations** — trigger Discord/Slack/Telegram alerts when your team's game goes `final`. - **Cron-scheduled score tickers** — run every 2–5 minutes with `statusFilter: "live"` for a lightweight live-scores JSON feed for dashboards, widgets, or LED tickers. - **Sports data pipelines** — nightly run with `statusFilter: "final"` to load results into a warehouse or Google Sheet. - **Fantasy & betting research** — pull schedules ahead of time (`statusFilter: "scheduled"`, future `date`). ### FAQ **Do I need an ESPN API key?** No. The actor uses ESPN's public, unauthenticated JSON endpoints. **Why does a league return 0 games?** Offseason, or no fixtures on the requested date. The run still succeeds and logs it. **Can I get historical results?** Yes — set `date` to a past day (e.g. `2026-01-15`). **Is play-by-play or odds data included?** Not currently; this actor focuses on a stable scores/schedule schema. **How is it billed?** Pay-per-event: a tiny fee per score row pushed (`score-row`). **Is this affiliated with ESPN?** No — unofficial, not affiliated with or endorsed by ESPN. # Actor input Schema ## `leagues` (type: `array`): League codes to fetch. Supported: nfl, nba, mlb, nhl, epl (English Premier League), mls, ncaaf (college football), ncaab (men's college basketball). ## `date` (type: `string`): Optional date in YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD format. Leave empty for today's scoreboard. ## `statusFilter` (type: `string`): Only return games with this status. 'live' = in progress, 'scheduled' = upcoming, 'final' = finished, 'all' = everything. ## Actor input object example ```json { "leagues": [ "nba", "nfl", "mlb", "nhl" ], "date": "", "statusFilter": "all" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "leagues": [ "nba", "nfl", "mlb", "nhl" ], "date": "", "statusFilter": "all" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("ichigowa/live-sports-scores").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "leagues": [ "nba", "nfl", "mlb", "nhl", ], "date": "", "statusFilter": "all", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("ichigowa/live-sports-scores").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "leagues": [ "nba", "nfl", "mlb", "nhl" ], "date": "", "statusFilter": "all" }' | apify call ichigowa/live-sports-scores --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=ichigowa/live-sports-scores", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Live Sports Scores & Fixtures API (ESPN)", "description": "Live scores, schedules and final results for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, EPL, MLS, NCAAF and NCAAB as clean normalized JSON from ESPN's public API. No API key needed. Unofficial, not affiliated with ESPN.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "ltUdoBfowwoUpXWI5" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/ichigowa~live-sports-scores/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-ichigowa-live-sports-scores", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/ichigowa~live-sports-scores/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-ichigowa-live-sports-scores", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/ichigowa~live-sports-scores/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-ichigowa-live-sports-scores", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "leagues": { "title": "Leagues", "type": "array", "description": "League codes to fetch. Supported: nfl, nba, mlb, nhl, epl (English Premier League), mls, ncaaf (college football), ncaab (men's college basketball).", "default": [ "nba", "nfl", "mlb", "nhl" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "date": { "title": "Date", "type": "string", "description": "Optional date in YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD format. Leave empty for today's scoreboard.", "default": "" }, "statusFilter": { "title": "Status filter", "enum": [ "all", "live", "scheduled", "final" ], "type": "string", "description": "Only return games with this status. 'live' = in progress, 'scheduled' = upcoming, 'final' = finished, 'all' = everything.", "default": "all" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```