Introduction
Within the Schedules and Games endpoints, you will find a Status field for any given game. This Schedule field is used to tell you the current status of the game in question. While the possible values vary slightly between certain sports, for the most part these are consistent. The consistent outputs, as well as the sport-specific ones, are explained below.
All Sports
- Scheduled: The sports game is planned and has a set date and time but has not yet started.
- InProgress: The game is currently being played, with both teams actively competing.
- Final: The game has ended in regulation time, and the final score has been determined.
- F/OT: The game has ended after overtime (OT), with the final score determined in the additional period(s) beyond regulation time.
- Suspended: The game has been temporarily halted due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., severe weather, power outage), with the intention to resume later.
- Postponed: The game has been rescheduled for a later date, typically due to weather or other extenuating circumstances.
- Delayed: The game's start time has been pushed back, but it is still expected to be played on the same day.
- Canceled: The game has been called off and will not be played or rescheduled, often due to extreme weather or other uncontrollable events.
- Forfeit: One team has conceded the game, resulting in an automatic win for the opposing team, typically due to a lack of players, rule violations, or other issues.
Soccer and NHL Only
- F/SO: The game has ended after a shootout (SO) to determine the winner following a tie in regulation and overtime.
MLB, NBA, NHL, and WNBA Only
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NotNecessary: The game is part of a series and is no longer needed, as the series outcome has already been determined based on the results of previous games. This can be considered analogous to a Canceled game.
- Example: The LA Dodgers and Chicago Cubs were set for a seven-game series in the National League Championship Series. However, Los Angeles won the sixth game to make it a 4-2 series. As Chicago could no longer bridge the gap in the remaining game, the seventh game was unnecessary and was not played. Thus, the seventh game changed from Scheduled to NotNecessary.
What to know about sport specific game and quarter statuses
Below outlines the various game and quarter statuses SportsDataIO has for each sport in the Game/Score objects.
NFL
NFL statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit.
Quarter statuses 1, 2, 3, 4, Half, OT, F/OT, or NULL if the game has not yet started.
MLB
MLB statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled
Inning statuses: NULL, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, etc
For MLB, we also have an inning half field and that will return as T (top), B (bottom), or NULL
NBA
NBA statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Quarter statuses: 1, 2, 3, 4, Half, OT, Final, F/OT, NULL
NHL
NHL statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/SO, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Period statuses: 1, 2, 3, OT, SO, Final, F/OT, F/SO, NULL
CFB
CFB statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Quarter statuses: 1, 2, 3, 4, Half, OT, Final, F/OT, NULL
CBB
CBB statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Period statuses: 1, 2, Half, OT, OT2, Final, F/OT, NULL
Soccer
Soccer statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Break, Final, Awarded, Postponed, Canceled, Suspended
Period statuses: Regular, ExtraTime, PenaltyShootout
WNBA
WNBA statuses: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Quarter statuses: 1, 2, 3, 4, Half, OT, NULL
CWBB
CWBB: Scheduled, InProgress, Final, F/OT, Suspended, Postponed, Delayed, Canceled, Forfeit
Period statuses: 1, 2, 3, 4, OT, F, F/OT, NULL
Game starting and closing procedures
The section below outlines how games are Opened, set to In-Progress, and Closed in SportsDataIO's feeds. This information is vital to understanding how games are managed from their beginning through to their end. It is important especially for those customers who rely on real-time game state data for gamification, settlement etc., but is useful information for anyone using a play-by-play or post-game stats product.
Note that where the word "game" is used, it is also applicable to other names like "fight" for MMA, "race" for NASCAR, "match" for tennis, and so on. Any exceptions are dealt with separately.
Game Opening
We open games the moment they begin. The second a game begins, we set our 'HasStarted' flag to True. Once this is set, it is not un-set: that is, when the game ends, because it did start, the HasStarted flag will never bet set to False.
Game In-Progress
Once a game has started, it is in progress. The IsInProgress flag will be set to True and will remain true as long as the game is taking place.
For the duration of the game, IsInProgress will be set to True. This remains True even during timeouts, half time, etc. This also remains true in the case of a Suspension, such as a rain delay - the game is still alive and remains In-Progress.
Only if a game is Canceled, Postponed, or Forfeited, would we mark a game that has started but not finished as no longer In-Progress.
Game Finishing
The moment a game ends, the In-Progress flag is unchecked and instead the IsOver flag is checked to true.
The IsOver flag almost always corresponds to the natural end of a game - the end of the fourth quarter (or overtime) in football, the final whistle in soccer, the win of the last required set in tennis, the last required innings in baseball and so on.
In the case in which a game faces an unusual early end without conclusion, such as a severe injury or freak weather occurrence, the IsOver flag will not be used. Instead the Canceled flag should be consulted. This, along with the text-based Status field, will tell you how the event concluded even if the game did not formally finish.
Game 'Closed' Status
A very important distinction is how we Close games. Closure and Finishing are not the same thing. A game will Finish the moment the action finishes. However, we then run a final check of data integrity to help improve the accuracy of settlement and resulting, particularly for controversial or complex plays. This normally takes a few minutes after the game is Finished.
Note that games that do not Finish cannot, by definition, be Closed. For example, an NFL game that is Canceled during the second quarter will never be Closed for that reason.
It is highly recommended to wait for IsClosed to be set to True before treating the stats and events of the game as authoritative.
Important Note: NFL Active/Played Exceptions
There is one very important exception to the Closed status, and that is NFL snap counts.
Snap counts are updated the morning after the game in question to ensure accuracy and accordance with official League statistics.
In certain cases, a player's 'Played' and 'Active' status may change when the snap counts are created. For example, if a player took part in just a few snaps and recorded absolutely no statistics, we would not confirm that he had Played until the snap counts are loaded.
For more detailed information on update frequencies and timings please see the dedicated article here.
Important Note: Stat Corrections
Leagues or stat providers may correct a stat in the days after a game. For example, a particularly hard-to-judge rebound may be attributed to a different player, or a tackle may be assigned jointly instead of singly.
Each league has its own timings, but they are generally on a 5-7 day deadline after the game ends for a stat to be officially corrected.
For this reason, even after IsClosed is set to true, you may choose to call finished games on an irregular basis - such as every six hours - for up to 7 days after a game to ensure you catch any late stat correction.
While these are rare, they do occur multiple times a season in most leagues.
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