Sports Reference

Sports Reference, LLC
Company type	Private
Industry	Sports statistics
Founded	August 2004; 20 years ago
Founder	Sean Forman
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Products	Baseball Reference; Basketball Reference; Pro Football Reference; Hockey Reference; FBref; SR/College Basketball; SR/College Football; Stathead; Immaculate Grid;
Website	www.sports-reference.com

Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Reference for ice hockey, FBref for association football (soccer), and pages for college football and basketball.^[1]^[2] Sports Reference also operate the online sports trivia game Immaculate Grid and the statistics-based subscription service Stathead. From 2008 to 2020 the Web site included Olympic Games statistics from the first Games to the most recent.

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The company was founded in Philadelphia by Sean Forman in 2004 and incorporated as Sports Reference LLC in 2007.^[3]^[1]^[4] The company operates databases of sports statistics for several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey Reference for ice hockey, FBref for association football (soccer), and pages for college football and basketball. Sports Reference maintained a section on the Olympics from 2008 to 2020.^[5] The sites attempt a comprehensive approach to sports data. For example, Baseball Reference contains more than 100,000 box scores while Pro Football Reference contains data on every scoring play in the National Football League (NFL) since 1941.^[1] The college basketball section includes data on NCAA Division I men's basketball, with incomplete data going back as far as 1892—predating the first NCAA divisional split (1956) and the NCAA itself (1906). Division I women's basketball stats were added in 2023.^[6] Sports Reference purchased the baseball trivia game Immaculate Grid on July 11, 2023, and integrated it with its sites.^[7]^[8]

Sports Reference Olympics logo

Sports Reference added a site for Olympic Games statistics and history in July 2008,^[9]^[10] including statistics from the first Games to the most recent.

The company announced in December 2016 that the Olympics site was to shut down in the near future due to a change in its data licensing agreement.^[11] Data for the 2016 Summer Olympics were added,^[12] but the site was not updated for the 2018 Winter Olympics.^[13]^[11] Sports Reference closed its Olympic site on May 14, 2020.^[14]

The providers of the Olympic data, known as OlyMADmen, launched a new site called Olympedia in May 2020.^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18] According to Slate, editing of "Olympedia [was] restricted to about two dozen trusted academics and researchers who specialize in Olympic history."^[19] The site is owned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).^[20] On December 29, 2023, OlyMADmen member Bill Mallon announced that they would no longer be able to update Olympedia because the IOC declined to renew the contract necessary to permit them to do so.^[21]^[22]

[1]
Kramer, Staci D. (February 17, 2009). "Fantasy Sports Ventures Takes Minority Stake In Sports Reference LLC". CBS News. PaidContent.org. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
[2]
Fisher, Eric (February 16, 2009). "FSV buys stake in reference sites". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009.
[3]
Wagner, James (February 13, 2019). "From a Church in Philadelphia, Sports Reference Informs the World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
[4]
"Company Overview of Sports Reference, LLC". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
[5]
"Sports Reference Main Page". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
[6]
Lynch, Mike (February 15, 2024). "Sports Reference Expands Women's College Basketball Data". Sports Reference Blog. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
[7]
Kepner, Tyler (July 11, 2023). "The Hottest Thing in Baseball Is a Grid of Nine Blank Squares". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
[8]
Winkie, Luke (October 1, 2023). "The Trendy New Trivia Game That's Like Wordle for Straight Men". Slate. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
[9]
sean (July 9, 2008). "Olympics at Sports Reference Launches". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.
[10]
"About This Site". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
[11]
"Site Closing". Sports-Reference.com. December 16, 2016. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
[12]
"2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
[13]
"Winter Games Index". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
[14]
"Site is Closed". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
[15]
Lohn, John (May 27, 2020). "Comprehensive Olympedia Database Available to Public; Loaded with Information". Swimming World. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021. OlyMADmen, an international group of Olympics experts and historians, have made their exhaustive Olympics database available
[16]
Perelman, Rich (May 27, 2020). "LANE ONE: Staggering, brilliant, astonishing portal to Olympic history opens with debut of Olympedia.org". The Sports Examiner. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
[17]
Mallon, Bill (May 27, 2020). "Olympedia now open to the public". OlympStats.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020. the result many years of work by a group of Olympic historians and statisticians called the OlyMADmen
[18]
"About". Olympedia. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. The group that has compiled the database refers to itself as MADmen — MAD being an acronym for several of the early members of the group, but also signifies their commitment to the project in another sense.
[19]
Harrison, Stephen (July 26, 2021). "How to Use Wikipedia When You're Watching the Olympics". Slate. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
[20]
Bauernfeind, John (February 27, 2017). "IOC looks to acquisition of Olympedia as step toward modernizing Olympic recordkeeping". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
[21]
Mallon, Bill [@bambam1729] (December 29, 2023). "In 2016 Olympedia was purchased by the IOC but we have had a contract with them to update it since that time" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Twitter.
[22]
Mallon, Bill [@bambam1729] (December 29, 2023). "As of 1 Jan 2024 our contract with the IOC is not being renewed. The OlyMADMen will no longer update Olympedia after today, 29 Dec" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Twitter.

[FSJ_Stake-1] [1]
Kramer, Staci D. (February 17, 2009). "Fantasy Sports Ventures Takes Minority Stake In Sports Reference LLC". CBS News. PaidContent.org. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2021.

[2] [2]
Fisher, Eric (February 16, 2009). "FSV buys stake in reference sites". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009.

[church-3] [3]
Wagner, James (February 13, 2019). "From a Church in Philadelphia, Sports Reference Informs the World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

[BusinessweekOverview-4] [4]
"Company Overview of Sports Reference, LLC". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2013.

[5] [5]
"Sports Reference Main Page". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2014.

[6] [6]
Lynch, Mike (February 15, 2024). "Sports Reference Expands Women's College Basketball Data". Sports Reference Blog. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

[nyt-7] [7]
Kepner, Tyler (July 11, 2023). "The Hottest Thing in Baseball Is a Grid of Nine Blank Squares". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.

[slate-8] [8]
Winkie, Luke (October 1, 2023). "The Trendy New Trivia Game That's Like Wordle for Straight Men". Slate. Archived from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.

[9] [9]
sean (July 9, 2008). "Olympics at Sports Reference Launches". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.

[10] [10]
"About This Site". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

[down-11] [11]
"Site Closing". Sports-Reference.com. December 16, 2016. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2017.

[12] [12]
"2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

[13] [13]
"Winter Games Index". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

[14] [14]
"Site is Closed". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.

[15] [15]
Lohn, John (May 27, 2020). "Comprehensive Olympedia Database Available to Public; Loaded with Information". Swimming World. Archived from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021. OlyMADmen, an international group of Olympics experts and historians, have made their exhaustive Olympics database available

[16] [16]
Perelman, Rich (May 27, 2020). "LANE ONE: Staggering, brilliant, astonishing portal to Olympic history opens with debut of Olympedia.org". The Sports Examiner. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.

[17] [17]
Mallon, Bill (May 27, 2020). "Olympedia now open to the public". OlympStats.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020. the result many years of work by a group of Olympic historians and statisticians called the OlyMADmen

[18] [18]
"About". Olympedia. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. The group that has compiled the database refers to itself as MADmen — MAD being an acronym for several of the early members of the group, but also signifies their commitment to the project in another sense.

[19] [19]
Harrison, Stephen (July 26, 2021). "How to Use Wikipedia When You're Watching the Olympics". Slate. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.

[20] [20]
Bauernfeind, John (February 27, 2017). "IOC looks to acquisition of Olympedia as step toward modernizing Olympic recordkeeping". Sports Business Journal. Archived from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.

[21] [21]
Mallon, Bill [@bambam1729] (December 29, 2023). "In 2016 Olympedia was purchased by the IOC but we have had a contract with them to update it since that time" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Twitter.

[22] [22]
Mallon, Bill [@bambam1729] (December 29, 2023). "As of 1 Jan 2024 our contract with the IOC is not being renewed. The OlyMADMen will no longer update Olympedia after today, 29 Dec" (Tweet). Retrieved April 4, 2024 – via Twitter.

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Sports Reference

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Sports Reference

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History

Olympics

References

External links