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Real Time Statistics Feeds for Fantasy Sports?
Anonymous Coward asks: "I want to develop an applet that will track/sort/rank NFL players using real-time statistical feeds from somewhere. Is there a subscription service or site that offers real time NFL statistical feeds (bonus points given if its a free service)?"
The NFL recently set up GSIS, which basically allows you to use a Java applet which receives stats from the league as they're input by the offical scorer at the game (I actually know (through a fan board) the official scorer for the Scottish Claymores). You can use a stripped down version of the applet on NFL.com, and you can register yourself as a member of the media (it's scandalously easy to do, though not as much as when the username/password for NFLMedia.com was media:media) to get a full version (which will give you the full game stats and play-by-play mere minutes after the game is finished in your choice of PDF or XML). Using this, you could reverse-engineer the protocol and write your own server (though I forget whether the NFL claims a copyright on the game statistics they distribute).
I looked into this a few years ago for college basketball no less. I got a tepid response because I was a "small timer" looking to do some stuff for a fantasy league, but they probably have package that will meet your (obviously NFL football this time of year) fantasy league's needs and costs forty times the worth of your firstborn.