BALLDONTLIE
Clean, well-documented sports stats API best known for free NBA data, with a no-card free tier and an official MCP server for Claude agents.
BALLDONTLIE began as a beloved free NBA stats API and now spans 20+ leagues (NFL, MLB, NHL, EPL, WNBA, NCAA, the big European soccer leagues, F1, tennis, golf, esports), with NBA data going back to 1946. The free tier requires a free account key (no credit card) and covers a core set of leagues at a basic data level: teams, players, games, season averages and box scores; the full multi-sport catalogue and advanced stats are paid. It ships an official MCP server (github.com/balldontlie-api/mcp), making it a drop-in data source for Claude-based agents.
Free tier
Free tier (account required, no card): basic data, 5 req/min, core leagues (NBA plus NFL/MLB/EPL). ALL-STAR $9.99/mo (60 req/min), GOAT $39.99/mo (600 req/min, 48h trial), ALL-ACCESS $299.99/mo (all 20+ leagues + advanced features).Rate limits
Free: 5 requests/minute. ALL-STAR: 60 req/min. GOAT and ALL-ACCESS: 600 req/min.Auth
API keyBase URL
https://api.balldontlie.io/v1What you'd build with it
- Build an NBA stats Q&A skill (player season averages, box scores)
- Plug into Claude via the official MCP server for sports queries
- Cross-league fantasy or analytics prototypes
- Historical NBA research (data back to 1946)
Key endpoints
- GET
/teamsList NBA teams (paginated) - GET
/players?search={name}Search NBA players by name - GET
/games?seasons[]={year}List games filtered by season, team, or date - GET
/stats?game_ids[]={id}Per-player box-score stats for games - GET
/season_averages?season={year}&player_ids[]={id}Season average stats for players
Members get the runnable recipe
Sign in free to copy the example request, see a sample response, and read the gotchas.