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Faq


Answers to the most common questions about Sports API Hub.

General

What sports are supported?

Sports API Hub supports 8 sports:

SportStatus
BasketballFull support (per-game stats, box scores, play-by-play, aggregate stats, standings)
BaseballFull support (batting, pitching, fielding stats, R/H/E display, standings)
CricketSupported (games, teams, players, standings)
RugbySupported (games, teams, players, standings)
Ice HockeySupported (games, teams, players, standings)
American FootballSupported (games, teams, players, standings)
HandballSupported (games, teams, players, standings)
VolleyballSupported (games, teams — no player stats from API)

Basketball and Baseball have the most complete feature sets, including detailed per-game statistics, box scores, aggregate stats (season averages, rankings, leaders), and advanced metrics.

See Supported Sports for the full capability matrix.

Can I use multiple API providers at the same time?

No. The API provider is a global setting — you choose one provider for your entire site. If you need data from multiple sports, choose AllSportsAPI2, which covers all 8 sports with a single API key.

The BasketAPI1 and BaseballAPI providers are sport-specific alternatives if you only need one sport.

Is there a free version of the plugin?

No. Sports API Hub is a paid plugin only. There is no free version on WordPress.org. The plugin requires a license purchased directly from our website.

🔌 API & Data

How much does the external API cost?

The plugin connects to RapidAPI-hosted APIs. API pricing is separate from the plugin license. A paid RapidAPI plan is required — the free tier is not supported due to insufficient request limits.

Paid plans typically start around $10/month (as of March 2026) and vary by provider and tier. Visit RapidAPI to see current pricing for your chosen provider.

See API Usage for details on how many API calls each import task uses.

How real-time are live scores?

Live scores use API polling, not WebSocket connections. The polling interval is configurable:

  • Frontend score polling: 15, 30, 45, or 60 seconds (default: 30s)
  • Frontend detail polling: 60, 120, 180, or 300 seconds (default: 120s)

Scores are typically delayed by the polling interval plus a few seconds of API processing time. This is not instant like a TV broadcast, but updates are frequent enough for a sports website. The game page updates scores, box scores, timeline, and game flow charts automatically without page reload.

See Live Scores for the full guide.

Will this slow down my site?

No. The plugin is designed for performance:

  • Custom database tables — fast queries, no post meta overhead
  • Object cache support — integrates with Redis, Memcached, and other object cache backends
  • CDN-friendly URLs — immutable cache headers with hash-based cache busting
  • Lazy loading — aggregate stats fetched only when needed (stale-while-revalidate)
  • Background processing — imports and syncs run via WP Cron, not during page loads
  • Bulk query optimization — entity data pre-warmed in batch queries, not N+1

Data is stored locally in your WordPress database. Frontend pages serve pre-stored data — they do not call external APIs on every page load.

How does the plugin handle NBA Cup stats?

NBA Cup group stage, quarterfinal, and semifinal games all count toward regular season statistics — the NBA treats them as regular season games. Only the Championship Final is excluded (it’s an extra game beyond the 82-game schedule).

The plugin handles this automatically: NBA Cup stats are combined with regular season stats on player and team pages, and the Championship Final is excluded from all statistical calculations. No configuration needed.

What data does the plugin import?

For each game, the plugin can import:

  • Game details — scores, date/time, venue, status, period scores
  • Lineups / Box scores — per-player statistics for each game
  • Team statistics — team-level totals (shooting percentages, rebounds, etc.)
  • Incidents / Timeline — scoring events, period breaks, play-by-play
  • Highlights — YouTube video links (when available from API)
  • Odds — pre-game betting odds (moneyline, spread, totals)

Additionally: team rosters, league standings, cup/playoff brackets, and team/player metadata.

Why don’t I see Whiffs/SwStr%/CSW% columns in Pitching Leaders?

These columns require Pitch-by-Pitch Data to be enabled in API Config. Three things to check:

  1. Setting enabled? Go to API & Import > API Config > Import Options and turn on “Pitch-by-Pitch Data (MLB only)”
  2. Data processed? After enabling, pitch data is fetched in the background after game imports complete. It takes a few minutes per game – check back shortly
  3. Server time limit? Each game needs 30-50 seconds of processing. If your PHP max_execution_time is 30 seconds (common default), the process will time out silently. Increase it to 120 seconds

See Pitching Leaders – Pitch-by-Pitch Data for the full setup guide.

Compatibility

Can I use Sports API Hub with Elementor, Divi, or other page builders?

Yes. The plugin works with any page builder through two mechanisms:

  1. Shortcodes — the shortcode builder provides 13 shortcodes like [anwphub-games], [anwphub-standings], [anwphub-calendar] that work in any page builder’s text/shortcode widget.
  2. Standard templates — entity pages (game, team, player, season) use WordPress’s standard template system, compatible with all themes and page builders.

Does it work with the Kadence theme?

Yes, and there is a special integration. When the Kadence theme is active, the plugin automatically detects and uses Kadence’s global color palette. The plugin’s color palette editor becomes read-only to avoid conflicts. See Color Palette for details.

🎨 Customization

How do I translate the plugin to my language?

Sports API Hub provides two translation systems:

  1. Text Overrides — customize UI strings like “Final”, “Halftime”, “Standings”, stat abbreviations (PTS, REB, ERA), and more. Navigate to Settings & Tools > Translations > Text Strings tab. See Text Overrides.
  2. Entity Translations — translate team names, player names, league names, and other entity names into your language. Navigate to Settings & Tools > Translations > entity tabs (Teams, Players, etc.). See Entity Translations.

How do I customize the visual appearance?

Several options are available, from simple to advanced:

  1. Color Palette — set your site’s 9-color palette in Settings & Tools > Settings. See Color Palette.
  2. Border Radius — choose corner rounding (0–12px) in Settings & Tools > Settings > Display.
  3. Team Display Mode — choose how teams appear in game cards (logo, badge, outlined badge, etc.) in Settings & Tools > Settings > Display.
  4. Layout Builder — compose entity pages from blocks with per-block styling options (colors, spacing, borders).
  5. CSS Design Tokens — override CSS custom properties for global changes.
  6. Template Overrides — copy template files to your theme for full HTML control.

What shortcodes are available?

The plugin includes 13 shortcodes with a visual builder:

ShortcodeDescription
[anwphub-games]Game list or grid
[anwphub-calendar]Interactive day-by-day game browser
[anwphub-standings]Compact league standings
[anwphub-standings-full]Full-width standings with all groups
[anwphub-bracket]Playoff/cup bracket visualization
[anwphub-scoreboard]Horizontal game carousel (ESPN-style)
[anwphub-leaders]League stat leaders
[anwphub-roster]Team roster card grid
[anwphub-team-stats]League-wide team stats comparison table
[anwphub-leagues]Country-grouped league directory
[anwphub-game]Mini game page with selectable sections
[anwphub-highlights]Video highlight grid
[anwphub-entity-posts]Linked blog posts for an entity

All shortcodes have a visual builder with field form and live preview. See Shortcodes for details.

Features

What is the Layout Builder?

The Layout Builder lets you customize the content and order of blocks on game, team, player, and season pages. Each entity type has its own layout with sport-specific blocks available. For games, you can set different layouts for upcoming, live, and finished states.

Features include: drag-and-drop block ordering, per-block styling (colors, spacing, borders), row containers (fixed and fluid), tabs, scroll navigation, SEO fields, and a code editor for advanced users.

What are Odds and how do they work?

The plugin can import pre-game betting odds (moneyline, spread, totals) from the API. Odds display on game cards and game pages with a format switcher (fractional, decimal, American). Visitors can choose their preferred format, and the plugin remembers the choice.

Configure odds in API & Import > API Config > Odds section.

What is the AI Writer?

The AI Writer generates game previews and reviews using OpenAI. It provides structured game data (box scores, incidents, team form, standings, etc.) as context for AI generation.

Two modes:

  • Review — for finished games (uses box scores, timeline, team stats)
  • Preview — for upcoming games (uses team form, H2H history, standings, key players, odds)

You can also Export Data as JSON without an OpenAI key — useful for pasting into Claude, Gemini, or other AI tools.

See AI Writer for the full guide.

Does the plugin show video highlights?

Yes. The plugin can import YouTube video highlights from the API for finished games. Highlights appear on game pages, team pages, and season pages via layout builder blocks, or anywhere via the [anwphub-highlights] shortcode.

Enable highlight importing in API & Import > API Config > Import Options.

✍️ Content

Can I edit team or player data manually?

Sports API Hub is designed for automated data import with minimal manual editing. Entity data comes from the external API and is updated automatically via background sync.

However, you can:

  • Translate names via Entity Translations (original API names are preserved)
  • Upload custom logos to replace API-provided logos
  • Add descriptions to team and player pages
  • Write game previews/reviews via the AI Writer or manually in the game edit screen
  • Link blog posts to entities via Entity Links

Direct editing of stats, scores, or game data is not supported — that data is managed by the API.

How do I add content about a team or player?

Use the Entity Links feature to connect your blog posts to specific teams, players, or games. Linked posts appear on entity pages via the [anwphub-entity-posts] shortcode or the Entity Posts layout builder block. See Entity Links.

You can also add custom game content (preview, review, or raw HTML/embeds) directly in the game edit screen’s “Custom Content” metabox.

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