# Sports Reference

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American sports statistics company

Sports Reference, LLC Type Private Industry Sports statistics Founded August 2004; 21 years ago (2004-08) Founder Sean Forman Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , US Products Baseball Reference Basketball Reference FBref Hockey Reference Immaculate Grid Pro Football Reference SR/College Basketball SR/College Football Stathead Website www.sports-reference.com

**Sports Reference, LLC** is an American [sports statistics](/source/Sports_statistics) company that operates databases of several sports. They include [Pro Football Reference](/source/Pro_Football_Reference) for [American football](/source/American_football), [Baseball Reference](/source/Baseball_Reference) for [baseball](/source/Baseball), **Basketball Reference** for [basketball](/source/Basketball), **Hockey Reference** for [ice hockey](/source/Ice_hockey), **FBref** for [association football](/source/Association_football) (soccer), and pages for [college football](/source/College_football) and [basketball](/source/College_basketball).[1][2] Sports Reference also operate the online sports trivia game [Immaculate Grid](/source/Immaculate_Grid) and the statistics-based subscription service **Stathead**. From 2008 to 2020, the website included [Olympic Games](/source/Olympic_Games) statistics from the first Games to the most recent.

## History

The company was founded in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) by Sean Forman in 2004 and incorporated as Sports Reference LLC in 2007.[3][1][4] The company operates databases of [sports statistics](/source/Sports_statistics) for several sports. They include [Pro Football Reference](/source/Pro_Football_Reference) for [American football](/source/American_football), [Baseball Reference](/source/Baseball_Reference) for [baseball](/source/Baseball), Basketball Reference for [basketball](/source/Basketball), Hockey Reference for [ice hockey](/source/Ice_hockey), FBref for [association football](/source/Association_football) (soccer), and pages for [college football](/source/College_football) and [basketball](/source/College_basketball). Sports Reference maintained a section on the [Olympics](/source/Olympic_Games) 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](/source/National_Football_League) (NFL) since [1941](/source/1941_NFL_season).[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 with complete scores and results and 10,000 box scores included in 2025.[6][7] Sports Reference purchased the baseball trivia game [Immaculate Grid](/source/Immaculate_Grid) on July 11, 2023, and integrated it with its sites.[8][9]

## Olympics

Sports Reference Olympics logo

Sports Reference added a site for [Olympic Games](/source/Olympic_Games) statistics and history in July 2008,[10][11] 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.[12] Data for the [2016 Summer Olympics](/source/2016_Summer_Olympics) were added,[13] but the site was not updated for the [2018 Winter Olympics](/source/2018_Winter_Olympics).[14][12] Sports Reference closed its Olympic site on May 14, 2020.[15]

The providers of the Olympic data, known as *OlyMADmen*, launched a new site called **Olympedia** in May 2020.[16][17][18][19] According to *[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))*, editing of "Olympedia [was] restricted to about two dozen trusted academics and researchers who specialize in Olympic history."[20] The site is owned by the [International Olympic Committee](/source/International_Olympic_Committee) (IOC).[21]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FSJ_Stake_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FSJ_Stake_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FSJ_Stake_1-2) Kramer, Staci D. (February 17, 2009). ["Fantasy Sports Ventures Takes Minority Stake In Sports Reference LLC"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fantasy-sports-ventures-takes-minority-stake-in-sports-reference-llc/). *[CBS News](/source/CBS_News)*. [PaidContent.org](/source/PaidContent.org). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170909005248/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fantasy-sports-ventures-takes-minority-stake-in-sports-reference-llc/) from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Fisher, Eric (February 16, 2009). ["FSV buys stake in reference sites"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090217165943/http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61558). *[Sports Business Journal](/source/Sports_Business_Journal)*. Archived from [the original](http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/61558) on February 17, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-church_3-0)** Wagner, James (February 13, 2019). ["From a Church in Philadelphia, Sports Reference Informs the World"](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/sports/sean-forman-sports-reference.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190214011608/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/sports/sean-forman-sports-reference.html) from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BusinessweekOverview_4-0)** ["Company Overview of Sports Reference, LLC"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151006233718/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=53311244). [Bloomberg Businessweek](/source/Bloomberg_Businessweek). Archived from [the original](http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=53311244) on October 6, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Sports Reference Main Page"](https://www.sports-reference.com/). *Sports Reference*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100201172906/http://www.sports-reference.com/) from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved April 2, 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Lynch, Mike (February 15, 2024). ["Sports Reference Expands Women's College Basketball Data"](https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2024/02/sports-reference-expands-womens-college-basketball-data/). *Sports Reference Blog*. Retrieved February 18, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Lynch, Mike (November 25, 2025). ["Every Score and Result in Women's NCAA Division I Basketball History Added to College Basketball Reference"](https://www.sports-reference.com/blog/2025/11/every-score-and-result-in-womens-ncaa-division-i-basketball-history-added-to-college-basketball-reference/). *Sports-Reference.com Blog*. Retrieved November 28, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nyt_8-0)** [Kepner, Tyler](/source/Tyler_Kepner) (July 11, 2023). ["The Hottest Thing in Baseball Is a Grid of Nine Blank Squares"](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/sports/baseball/immaculate-grid.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230828055257/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/sports/baseball/immaculate-grid.html) from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-slate_9-0)** Winkie, Luke (October 1, 2023). ["The Trendy New Trivia Game That's Like Wordle for Straight Men"](https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/immaculate-grid-nfl-mlb-sports-trivia-game.html). *[Slate](/source/Slate.com)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20231111114359/https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/immaculate-grid-nfl-mlb-sports-trivia-game.html) from the original on November 11, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Foreman, Sean (July 9, 2008). ["Olympics at Sports Reference Launches"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080726042758/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/blog/?p=5). *Sports Reference*. Archived from [the original](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/blog/?p=5) on July 26, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["About This Site"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080729035411/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/about/). *Sports Reference*. Archived from [the original](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/about/) on July 29, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-down_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-down_12-1) ["Site Closing"](https://web.archive.org/web/20161219000502/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/down.html). *Sports Reference*. December 16, 2016. Archived from [the original](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/down.html) on December 19, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180720165957/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2016/). *Sports Reference*. Archived from [the original](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/2016/) on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Winter Games Index"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080707092830/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/). *Sports Reference*. Archived from [the original](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/winter/) on July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Site is Closed"](https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics.html). *Sports Reference*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191003122720/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/cliff-bricker-1.html) from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Lohn, John (May 27, 2020). ["Comprehensive Olympedia Database Available to Public; Loaded with Information"](https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/comprehensive-olympedia-database-available-to-public-loaded-with-information/). *[Swimming World](/source/Swimming_World)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210924201336/https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/comprehensive-olympedia-database-available-to-public-loaded-with-information/) 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

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Perelman, Rich (May 27, 2020). ["LANE ONE: Staggering, brilliant, astonishing portal to Olympic history opens with debut of Olympedia.org"](https://www.thesportsexaminer.com/lane-one-staggering-brilliant-astonishing-portal-to-olympic-history-opens-with-debut-of-olympedia-com/). *The Sports Examiner*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210926145622/https://www.thesportsexaminer.com/lane-one-staggering-brilliant-astonishing-portal-to-olympic-history-opens-with-debut-of-olympedia-com/) from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Mallon, Bill (May 27, 2020). ["Olympedia now open to the public"](https://olympstats.com/2020/05/27/olympedia-now-open-to-the-public/). *OlympStats.com*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200606103935/https://olympstats.com/2020/05/27/olympedia-now-open-to-the-public/) 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

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["About"](https://www.olympedia.org/static/about). *Olympedia*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200614210347/https://www.olympedia.org/static/about) 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Harrison, Stephen (July 26, 2021). ["How to Use Wikipedia When You're Watching the Olympics"](https://slate.com/technology/2021/07/tokyo-2020-olympic-games-wikipedia.html). *[Slate](/source/Slate_(magazine))*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210726164036/https://slate.com/technology/2021/07/tokyo-2020-olympic-games-wikipedia.html) from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Bauernfeind, John (February 27, 2017). ["IOC looks to acquisition of Olympedia as step toward modernizing Olympic recordkeeping"](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/27/Olympics/Olympedia.aspx). *[Sports Business Journal](/source/Sports_Business_Journal)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230529021255/https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Journal/Issues/2017/02/27/Olympics/Olympedia.aspx) from the original on May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.

## External links

- [Official website](https://www.sports-reference.com/)

- Media related to [Sports Reference](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sports_Reference) at Wikimedia Commons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sports Reference](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Reference) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Reference?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.