Sports Reference, which runs FBref, blocks any user who sends FBref more than ten requests in a minute, whatever the bot. Its terms welcome reuse of data from individual pages with credit. They forbid automated access that hurts the site, competing databases and AI training. There is no API and no download. A proxy pool would only spread the load the limit is there to stop.
What Sports Reference allows
FBref is one of the Sports Reference sites, and they share one set of terms. The terms say that sharing, using, changing or publishing data from individual pages "is welcomed, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes". You should credit Sports Reference "as the source of the data to the maximum extent possible". Section 5 of the terms then lists what you may not do:
| rule | what the terms say |
|---|---|
| bots | No "automated means to access or use the Site, including scripts, bots, scrapers, data miners, or similar software, in a manner that adversely impacts site performance or access", without express written permission. |
| competing data | No use of its material or data "to create any database, archive, or other data store that competes with or constitutes a material substitute" for the services or data stores of the site or its data providers. |
| AI | No copying or use of content "for purposes of training, fine-tuning, prompting, or instructing artificial intelligence models". |
The terms were last updated on 19 May 2023. The Data Use page adds that you "should not create websites or tools based on data you scrape from Sports Reference" without its permission. It asks you not to "aggressively spider data from our web sites, as spidering violates the terms and conditions that govern your use of our web sites". It also notes that "facts cannot be copyrighted".
The rate limit
Sports Reference publishes its limit on a page dated 26 October 2022 and updated on 29 May 2024:
| sites | a user is blocked above |
|---|---|
| FBref and Stathead | ten requests in a minute. |
| the other Sports Reference sites | twenty requests in a minute. |
In its words, it blocks users sending requests to "FBref and Stathead sites more often than ten requests in a minute". "This is regardless of bot type and construction and pages accessed." A session that breaks the rule "will be in jail for up to a day". The Data Use page adds that excessive activity from one IP address will get that address blocked.
Is there an FBref API or a download?
No. Sports Reference says most of its data comes from third parties, and its agreements mean it "can not provide the data available as a download on our site". It says an API "would mitigate some issues", but that an API is not its business model. For custom datasets, it says it will not take a request "unless you are prepared to pay a minimum of $5,000". You ask through its feedback form.
For one table at a time, Sports Reference offers its own route. The SHARE link above every table lets you "slice and dice any data table on the site and re-use it elsewhere". In its words, "You are free to use this data anywhere", and it asks you to keep the citation at the bottom of the table.
What FBref did when our server asked
Our server in St. Louis asked FBref for robots.txt and the home page on 4 October 2026. Both answered HTTP 403 with a Cloudflare challenge, a page titled "Just a moment...". Our requests were well under the limit, and FBref still answered with a challenge. This page offers no way past it. The Sports Reference policy pages on sports-reference.com answered normally.
The tools that scrape FBref
The open source tools we read handle the limit in different ways. One R package added "a user-defined pause between page loads to address their new rate limiting". One Python package offers Tor or a list of proxies, switched "after failed requests", to "hide your IP address". Its own page asks users to follow "the terms of service of the websites you intend to scrape". A list of scrapers on a review site promotes an FBref scraper for "advanced player scouting models".
Where a proxy fits
For FBref, a proxy does not fit. The limit is ten requests a minute, whatever the bot, and rotating addresses to send more would be the aggressive spidering Sports Reference says breaks its terms. Staying under the limit needs no proxy at all.
For other work where a proxy is allowed, what a residential proxy is explains the type. How to check if a proxy is working shows how to test one. Residential traffic without city targeting starts at $0.44/GB, and every plan is on our pricing page.
The limits of this page
We read Sports Reference's bot page, Data Use page and terms from our server in St. Louis on 4 October 2026. FBref itself answered with a challenge, so we did not read its pages or its robots.txt. We did not run a scraper or test the limit. The limit is Sports Reference's current setting, and it says it will try to keep that page up to date. This page is due for a check by 4 January 2027.
Sources
Every page below was read on 4 October 2026, from our server in St. Louis.
- Sports Reference, Bot/Scraping/Crawler Traffic on Sports-Reference.com Sites, dated 26 October 2022, updated 29 May 2024.
- Sports Reference, SR and Data Use, and Sharing Information from Sports Reference.
- Sports Reference, Terms of Use, last updated 19 May 2023.
- Our requests to fbref.com from our server in St. Louis.
