This article explains the main points in how to handle playoffs and postseasons for the sports and leagues covered by SportsDataIO.
Playoff Differences - Game Creation
It is important to note that not all sports have the same post-season or playoff format. Some, such as the NBA, have a set bracket with a set number of series, but an unpredictable number of games. Others, such as the NFL, are fully predictable by bracket and number of games. Others have a mix of the two.
We will first look at the differences in game creation for these different scenarios. Once the GameID is generated you can integrate it into your application.
NFL - Playoff Game Creation
GameID's will get created for the NFL playoffs once the games are determined.
Games for the next round of the playoffs do not get created until the previous round is fully completed.
NBA, MLB, NHL - Playoff Game Creation
For playoff series (NBA, MLB, and NHL), games from the entire series are created prior to the series starting. If the series ends before all scheduled games are played, the originally scheduled games will still show up in the API, but they will have a NotNecessary status.
CFB - Playoff Game Creation
GameID's for College Football bowl games are created shortly after the matchups are announced. This goes for all bowl games as well as the National Championship Game.
CBB - Playoff Game Creation
GameID's for all games in the Men's College Basketball Tournament are generated around two weeks before selection Sunday.
Soccer - Playoff Game Creation
Soccer may vary based on tournament type:
Group Stage then Knockout
GameID's for soccer tournaments with group stages then knockout rounds similar to the European Championship or World Cup will get created once the games are determined. Games for the next round are not created until the current round is over.
Straight Knockout
GameID's for soccer tournaments with knockout roundssuch as the FA Cup will get created once the games are determined. Games for the next round are not created until the current round is over as the teams involved are unlikely to be known until this occurs.
Playoff Differences - Status Flags
See for full detail the dedicated article on Game Status flags.
Game status is straightforward for most sports, matching the dedicated article above. However, we call out one important point here: the NotNecessary flag.
MLB, NBA, NHL, and WNBA - NotNecessary
For these four leagues only, the NotNecessary flag may appear attached to a game. This occurs when, for example, an NBA team sweeps a seven-game series 4-0. The remaining three games are not played as the series has been won, therefore they are marked as NotNecessary.
Postseason Season Parameter for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, CFB, and CBB
The season parameter for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL playoffs, the College Football bowl games, and the Men's College Basketball Tournament will be the same as the regular season except the season type (POST) will be added at the end.
For example, in the NFL regular season for 2023, the season parameter used is 2023 or 2023REG. For the 2023 playoffs, the season parameter would only be 2023POST. The same logic will apply to future seasons.
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