Front Office

Innovation

LeagueApps Rolls Out API To Our Partners

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By LeagueApps
August 4, 2015
3 min

For much of this year LeagueApps has been developing and experimenting as we build out a set of API’s. Today, we’re excited to publicly announce version 1.0 of the LeagueApps API.

LeagueApps’ API (Application Programming Interface) furthers our goal to be a platform that is flexible and configurable to the needs of your organization.  Check out the video below to learn more about what an API is and how they work.

We believe that all of our partners should have full control and ownership of their data including payments, registrations and member data. The LeagueApps platform already allows partners to use their own payment solutions, export their data through .CSV files and have control of their website design and UI through access to CSS and JavaScript content widgets to embed into their own websites. This API is another step forward as we open up the LeagueApps platform.

The API signifies our desire for LeagueApps to plug into the greater workflow, beyond the LeagueApps software, for your sports organization. We recognize that many of our partners use multiple web tools, software platforms, websites and social media channels to promote and manage their organization. We’re all for that. Many organizations that effectively utilize software today have a “stack” of different, specialized tools. Make no mistake, we’ll continue to build out key features within the LeagueApps platform that save you time and help you manage your organization. But we’d also like to work with you to figure out how LeagueApps can “talk” to other tools and eventually integrate with them to create the most valuable possible solution for your organization. In sports terms, we’re starting to open up our gym for anybody that wants to play ball. We’re confident this will improve both our game and yours.

API Specifications – Version 1.0 (Beta)

The first version of the LeagueApps API can be used to share live data that is output from LeagueApps in all different ways. Customize the data any way that you wish!

The API includes endpoints which provide access to your public-facing content. This is the content that is available on your website without your members having to login to their account. This data includes site details, site announcements, program information and schedules. We’ll soon release end points for results and standings as well.

To get a bit technical, the API is structured as REST endpoints which return results in a JSON format.  Every request must include a valid API Key in order to be granted access.  Calls to endpoints are made as HTTP GET requests.

Access the API

Any current partner can request access to the API. This will enable you to get feeds of your organization’s data. LeagueApps partners can do this by requesting an API key that will give you access to your own data.  Visit our developer site to access our API documentation and request your API key.

API – Future Versions

Our plan is to continue to develop and expand a set of API’s so that ultimately all of your data is available through this format. We’ll continue to add more feeds and end points to the current API.

Our next phase of development for the API will include access to all of your back-end (admin console) data. We’ll also want to grant access to user-authenticated data including logged-in member data. At the point, we’ll most likely explore more advanced development including key mapping and making API’s read-write so that admins and members can interact with the LeagueApps platform through the API feeds.

The LeagueApps product team is also exploring how we can integrate the API with other popular platforms like Mailchimp, Quickbooks and Zapier.

We’re eager to hear your feedback regarding the types of data needed to extend the LeagueApps platform through the API’s.

Example Use Cases with the LeagueApps API

We’re excited to collaborate with our partners to see how they intend to utilize the API. Here are a few examples of how Version 1.0 can be used:

  • Customized display of schedules added to your website.
  • Scoreboard ticker showing latest game results/scores.
  • Customized display of open registrations added to your website.
  • Customized “blog roll” of site announcements added to your website.
  • Integration of schedules and scores into your own mobile app.

So, What’s Next?

We’re already working with a handful of partners and third-party developers to utilize the API. It would be great to add you to the list and grant you access. We’re also building a few widgets that will utilize the API and plan to soon make these available for use to all of our partners.

Remember, the API is still in beta so give us some slack as we stomp out any bugs or issues and add additional end points as they are requested.

Most likely, it will take time to cultivate new features, widgets and apps that are developed with the API and shared through the LeagueApps network. We’re just as eager as you to see what types of innovative solutions some of our partners create (and hopefully share) using the API.