ESPN WNBA Scraper

ESPN WNBA Scraper

Scrape WNBA scores, team data, and news from ESPN, up to a million records per run. Every game, team, and article comes with its full detail set, ready for analysis. No API key or browser needed. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

ESPN's WNBA section is a rich source of game results, team information, and breaking news, but it has no public API for bulk access. This Actor reads the live scoreboard, team directory, and news feed directly, letting you pull structured data on demand. Filter by date to capture historical game data or track the current season as it happens.

Who uses it	What they scrape ESPN WNBA Scraper for
Sports data analysts	Build a historical database of WNBA game results and team performance.
Fantasy sports developers	Feed live player and team stats into a fantasy basketball app.
Sports journalists	Monitor the latest WNBA news and storylines for content planning.
Bettors and oddsmakers	Analyze past game outcomes and team trends to inform betting models.

What it does

This Actor collects WNBA scoreboard data, team profiles, or news articles from ESPN and returns each record as a flat, structured row.

• 🏀 Scoreboard: Pulls game data for a specific date, including team scores, game status, and venue details.
• 👥 Teams: Fetches the full WNBA team directory with franchise details and links to rosters.
• 📰 News: Retrieves the latest WNBA news articles, headlines, and publication information.
• 📅 Date filter: Target a specific date for the scoreboard endpoint to get historical game data.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with ESPN WNBA Scraper data

📊 Build a WNBA stats database.

A data analyst runs the Actor daily on the scoreboard endpoint to populate a cloud data warehouse with every game result for season-long trend analysis.

📰 Track breaking WNBA news.

A content manager schedules the news endpoint to run hourly, feeding the latest headlines into a team blog or social media dashboard.

🏀 Power a fantasy basketball app.

A developer uses the teams and scoreboard endpoints to sync team rosters and game results into a fantasy sports platform for live scoring.

📈 Analyze team performance trends.

A bettor pulls historical scoreboard data to calculate offensive and defensive ratings for upcoming game predictions.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
Structured WNBA data	Clean, flat records for games, teams, and news, ready for spreadsheets or databases.
No API key required	Access public ESPN data without registration, OAuth, or rate-limit headaches.
Historical game access	Pull scoreboard data from any past date to build a complete season archive.
Flexible output	Export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for use in any tool.

How it compares

This Actor focuses on bulk WNBA data extraction from ESPN, while the ESPN MCP Server is designed to connect AI assistants to live sports data.

Feature	ParseForge	ESPN MCP Server
Bulk data export (CSV, JSON, Excel, XML)	Yes	Not listed
WNBA-specific endpoint selection	Yes	Not listed
Historical date filtering	Yes	Not listed
No API key required	Yes	Yes
AI assistant integration (MCP)	Not listed	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor by selecting a data endpoint and optionally setting a date for the scoreboard, with a cap on the total number of records returned. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "endpoint": "scoreboard",
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "endpoint": "scoreboard",
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the ESPN WNBA Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to ESPN WNBA Scraper through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/espn-wnba-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results for a past date?

Ensure the date is in the correct YYYYMMDD format and that it falls within a WNBA season or a day when games were scheduled. Off-season dates will return an empty dataset.

The Actor is only returning 10 items.

This is the preview limit for free accounts. Upgrade to a paid Apify plan to increase the maximum records limit up to 1,000,000.

The run failed with a timeout error.

This can happen if ESPN's servers are slow to respond. Try increasing the run's timeout setting in the Actor's options, or reduce the maxItems value.

I'm getting an error about the input schema.

Make sure you have selected a valid endpoint from the dropdown menu. The 'dates' field is only applicable to the scoreboard endpoint and must be in YYYYMMDD format.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What data can I scrape with this Actor?	You can scrape WNBA scoreboard data for any date, the full list of WNBA teams, and the latest news articles from ESPN's WNBA section.
Do I need an ESPN API key to use this?	No. This Actor reads the public web pages on ESPN.com, so no API key or account registration is required.
Can I get historical WNBA game data?	Yes. Use the date filter on the scoreboard endpoint to specify any past date in YYYYMMDD format and retrieve that day's games.
How many records can I scrape in one run?	Free users are limited to a 10-item preview. Paid users can set a maximum of up to 1,000,000 records per run.
What format is the data exported in?	You can export your results in CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML format directly from the dataset tab.
Does this Actor scrape live, in-progress games?	Yes. Running the scoreboard endpoint without a date filter returns the current day's games, including live scores and statuses.
Can I get player-level stats from this Actor?	The Actor returns data as presented on the main scoreboard and team pages. For deep individual player stats, you may need a dedicated player stats scraper.
Is this Actor affiliated with ESPN or the WNBA?	No. This is an unofficial tool built by a third party to help you access publicly available data from ESPN.com.
How do I filter for a specific team's games?	The Actor returns the full scoreboard for a given date. You can filter the output dataset by team name after the run completes.
What is the difference between the endpoints?	The scoreboard endpoint returns games for a date, the teams endpoint returns the WNBA team directory, and the news endpoint returns recent articles.

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Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ESPN, Inc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.