DraftKings API Actor

The DraftKings API Actor is a powerful web scraping tool designed to extract comprehensive sports betting data and daily fantasy sports (DFS) information from the DraftKings platform. It provides real-time access to betting odds, contest details, and player statistics across multiple sports.

Features

Real-time Betting Odds

• Scrapes current sportsbook lines across multiple sports
• Captures point spreads, moneylines, over/under totals, and prop bets
• Tracks odds and line movements throughout the day

Daily Fantasy Sports Data

• Automated contest monitoring with entry fees, prize pools, and participant counts
• Comprehensive player statistics including projected points, salaries, and ownership percentages
• Draft group tracking and organization

Multi-Sport Coverage

• NFL - National Football League
• NBA - National Basketball Association
• MLB - Major League Baseball
• NHL - National Hockey League
• LOL - League of Legends (Esports)
• CS - Counter-Strike (Esports)
• SOCCER - International Soccer
• MMA - Mixed Martial Arts
• NASCAR - Stock Car Racing
• GOLF - Professional Golf
• TENNIS - Professional Tennis

Input Configuration

The Actor accepts the following input parameters:

sport (required)

• Type: String (select dropdown)
• Description: Sport code to scrape contests and players for
• Options: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, LOL, CS, SOCCER, MMA, NASCAR, GOLF, TENNIS
• Default: LOL

maxContests

• Type: Integer
• Description: Maximum number of contests to scrape. Set to a lower number for faster runs.
• Default: 100
• Range: 1-1000

includePlayerData

• Type: Boolean
• Description: If enabled, will fetch detailed player information for each draft group. Disable for faster execution.
• Default: true

Example Input

{
  "sport": "NFL",
  "maxContests": 50,
  "includePlayerData": true
}

Output Data

The Actor provides structured JSON output with two types of records:

Contest Data

Each contest record includes:

• type: "contest"
• sport: Sport code
• contestId: Unique contest identifier
• contestName: Contest name/title
• draftGroupId: Associated draft group ID
• entryFee: Contest entry fee
• totalPrizes: Total prize pool
• maxEntries: Maximum number of entries allowed
• currentEntries: Current number of entries
• gameType: Contest game type
• startTime: Contest start time
• scrapedAt: Timestamp when data was collected

Player Data

Each player record includes:

• type: "player"
• sport: Sport code
• draftGroupId: Associated draft group ID
• playerId: Unique player identifier
• playerName: Player's display name
• firstName: Player's first name
• lastName: Player's last name
• position: Playing position
• teamAbbreviation: Team abbreviation
• salary: DFS salary
• pointsPerGame: Average points per game
• competition: Competition/league name
• status: Player status
• draftable: Whether player is available for draft
• scrapedAt: Timestamp when data was collected

Example Output

[
  {
    "type": "contest",
    "sport": "NFL",
    "contestId": 123456,
    "contestName": "$100K Sunday Million",
    "draftGroupId": 98765,
    "entryFee": 20,
    "totalPrizes": 100000,
    "maxEntries": 10000,
    "currentEntries": 8543,
    "gameType": "Classic",
    "startTime": "2025-11-04T18:00:00Z",
    "scrapedAt": "2025-11-04T17:30:00Z"
  },
  {
    "type": "player",
    "sport": "NFL",
    "draftGroupId": 98765,
    "playerId": 456789,
    "playerName": "Patrick Mahomes",
    "firstName": "Patrick",
    "lastName": "Mahomes",
    "position": "QB",
    "teamAbbreviation": "KC",
    "salary": 8500,
    "pointsPerGame": 24.3,
    "competition": "NFL",
    "status": "Active",
    "draftable": true,
    "scrapedAt": "2025-11-04T17:30:00Z"
  }
]

Output Views

The Actor provides three pre-configured dataset views:

Overview

Combined view showing both contests and players with key fields:

• Type, Sport, Contest Name, Player Name, Entry Fee, Salary, Scraped At

Contests

Focused view for contest data:

• Type, Sport, Contest Name, Entry Fee, Prize Pool, Entries, Max Entries, Game Type, Start Time, Draft Group ID

Players

Focused view for player data:

• Type, Sport, Player Name, Position, Team, Salary, PPG, Status, Competition, Draft Group ID

Use Cases

Sports Betting Analysis

• Track line movements and identify betting opportunities
• Compare odds across different contest types
• Monitor prize pool growth and entry trends

Daily Fantasy Sports Optimization

• Build optimal lineups using salary and projection data
• Track player ownership percentages
• Identify value plays and contrarian picks

Market Research

• Analyze DraftKings contest offerings
• Track player pricing trends
• Monitor competition landscape

Data Collection for AI/ML

• Gather training data for prediction models
• Historical trend analysis
• Price modeling and optimization algorithms

Performance Tips

1. Faster Runs: Set includePlayerData to false if you only need contest information
2. Limit Contests: Reduce maxContests for quicker execution during testing
3. Schedule Runs: Use Apify's scheduling feature for regular data updates
4. Proxy Rotation: The Actor automatically uses Apify's proxy rotation to avoid rate limiting

Local Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20.0.0 or higher
• Apify CLI

Installation

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run locally
apify run

# Login to Apify
apify login

# Deploy to Apify platform
apify push

Project Structure

draft_kings_mcp/
├── .actor/
│   ├── actor.json              # Actor configuration
│   ├── input_schema.json       # Input parameters schema
│   ├── output_schema.json      # Output schema definition
│   └── dataset_schema.json     # Dataset views configuration
├── src/
│   └── main.js                 # Main Actor code
├── storage/                    # Local storage for development
├── Dockerfile                  # Container configuration
├── package.json               # NPM dependencies
├── AGENTS.md                  # AI agent instructions
└── README.md                  # This file

Technical Details

• Runtime: Node.js 22
• Framework: Apify SDK 3.5.x, Crawlee 3.15.x
• HTTP Client: got-scraping (with anti-blocking features)
• Data Storage: Apify Dataset (JSON)

API Integration

After deployment, you can integrate the Actor into your applications using the Apify API:

const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client');

const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN',
});

// Start Actor run
const run = await client.actor('SYNTELLECT_AI/draftkings-api-actor').call({
    sport: 'NFL',
    maxContests: 50,
    includePlayerData: true,
});

// Fetch results
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

Rate Limiting & Best Practices

• The Actor respects DraftKings' terms of service
• Uses proxy rotation to avoid IP blocking
• Implements error handling and retry logic
• Recommended: Run during off-peak hours for better reliability

Troubleshooting

No contests found

• Verify the sport code is correct
• Check if there are active contests for the selected sport
• Some sports may have limited availability depending on season

Player data missing

• Ensure includePlayerData is set to true
• Some draft groups may not have player data available yet

Timeout errors

• Reduce maxContests value
• Check your Apify account compute unit availability

Support

For issues or questions:

1. Check the Apify Documentation
2. Review the Actor logs in Apify Console
3. Open an issue on the project repository

License

ISC

Author

SYNTELLECT_AI

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Note: This Actor is for educational and research purposes. Always review and comply with DraftKings' Terms of Service and robots.txt when using this tool.