ESPN Scores, Standings, Teams & News by League: MCP config, n8n workflow and API

{
  "mode": "news",
  "league": "nba",
  "datePreset": "today",
  "rankingType": "all",
  "statusFilter": "all",
  "liveOnly": false,
  "newsScope": "league",
  "includeTeamDetails": false,
  "includeGameDetails": false,
  "includePlayerStats": false,
  "includeGameLog": false,
  "includePlayByPlay": false,
  "maxItems": 1
}

---
name: espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league
description: "ESPN records for games, standings, teams, players, news, schedules, rankings and odds, with a recordType on every row. Runs the Apify Actor vexaloom-labs/espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league. Use when the user needs ESPN data with fields such as recordType, mode, sport, league, name, status and an Apify token is available."
compatibility: "Needs network access, curl, and an APIFY_TOKEN environment variable. Runs are billed to the token owner's Apify account."
metadata:
  actor: "vexaloom-labs/espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league"
  store-url: "https://apify.com/vexaloom-labs/espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league"
---

# ESPN Scores, Standings, Teams & News by League

Use this skill to fetch ESPN data with the Apify Actor `vexaloom-labs/espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league` and work with the returned rows.

## Before running

1. Check that `APIFY_TOKEN` is set in the environment. Never print it or write it to a file.
2. Build `input.json` from the user's request using the fields below. Keep limits small for a first run.
3. Confirm the search terms or URLs with the user if the request is ambiguous.

## Input fields

| Field | Type | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `mode` | string, required | What to fetch from ESPN. |
| `league` | string | League slug. The sport is derived automatically. |
| `datePreset` | one of `today`, `tomorrow`, `yesterday`, `last7Days`, `next7Days`, `custom` | Date window for scoreboard and odds. ESPN accepts one date per request, so ranges are fetched one day at a time. |
| `rankingType` | one of `all`, `ap`, `coaches`, `cfp`, `pound-for-pound` | Which poll to return. 'all' includes every poll ESPN publishes for the league. |
| `statusFilter` | one of `all`, `pre`, `in`, `post` | Filter scoreboard, odds or schedule rows by game state. |
| `liveOnly` | boolean | Keep only in-progress games (scoreboard and odds). |
| `newsScope` | one of `league`, `global` | League news is capped at 50 articles by ESPN. Global pages the ESPN now feed and filters to the selected league. |
| `includeTeamDetails` | boolean | Fetch each team's record, venue and next event. Adds one request per team. |
| `includeGameDetails` | boolean | Attach the full game summary to every team-sport game. Adds one request per game. |
| `includePlayerStats` | boolean | Attach latest season stats to player rows and the player box score to gameDetail. Adds requests per player. |
| `includeGameLog` | boolean | Attach the current-season game log to each player. Adds one request per athlete. |
| `includePlayByPlay` | boolean | Include the full play-by-play list in gameDetail (scoring plays are always included). |
| `maxItems` | integer | Hard cap on data records. Notice rows explain unsupported or empty requests. |

Example `input.json` (the Actor's published prefill):

```json
{
  "mode": "news",
  "league": "nba",
  "datePreset": "today",
  "rankingType": "all",
  "statusFilter": "all",
  "liveOnly": false,
  "newsScope": "league",
  "includeTeamDetails": false,
  "includeGameDetails": false,
  "includePlayerStats": false,
  "includeGameLog": false,
  "includePlayByPlay": false,
  "maxItems": 1
}
```

## Run

```bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/vexaloom-labs~espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @input.json > results.json
```

The call waits for the run to finish and returns the dataset items as a JSON array. If the run needs more than 300 seconds the API answers with HTTP 408; then start the run with `POST /v2/acts/vexaloom-labs~espn-scores-standings-teams-and-news-by-league/runs`, poll `GET /v2/actor-runs/{runId}` until `SUCCEEDED`, and read `GET /v2/datasets/{defaultDatasetId}/items`.

## Output

Each item is one record. Published fields include: `recordType`, `mode`, `sport`, `league`, `name`, `status`, `homeTeam`, `awayTeam`, `homeScore`, `awayScore`, `date`.

Summarise what was found, cite the record URLs when present, and say how many items came back. Do not invent values for empty fields.