Historical Data Files

test

@Bud - you can actually get free data from that site as while as purchase it (the 'free sample' label is massively misleading IMO, it's a less-granular version of paid-for data, but it's available for all markets for all sports and all months).  But... it's in a completely different format to the old data.

as *well* as

I asked about the historical data files on the 28th/29th Nov.  They replied:

"We currently have a technical issue with both the Historical Data and the Developer Forum webpages. It is a known issue and is currently being looked into so we hope to have it remedied soon".

I went to the new site and downloaded a sample.  However, it would only allow me to download one month.  And when I unzipped it I had no idea what to do with it. The instructions they give don't correspond to anything I see.

The old site address just takes me to the new site now.  But the new site only goes back to 2015; moreover I can only download one month of data for free.  This doesn't look good  :-(

Another step backwards! Who is going to pay £99 to £200 for 1 months data for 1 sport?

I was a user of the data.betfair.com site, until about four weeks ago, when I suddenly could no longer log into it. And now they just pull the plug on it without giving anyone any notice... typical level of customer support and communication by Betfair.

I had the same response to 2-3 emails as cosmic, I even asked the team if BF were just using this response as an 'excuse' to cover up they were just quietly doing away with the old style csv files, I got no answer to that one and now it is well over a month since I last managed to get to the old page or grab any data, so it would seem the apparent 'technical issue' is non fixable, or it was never going to be fixed because it was never an 'issue' in the first place and thus I can only assume that my quip about quietly killing it off was/is true.

If BF are going to pull the plug on the older style data offerings, then just say so, its their data and and they can present it how they like, they do not need our approval, but at least have enough of spine and enough balls to admit you are killing off access to the data in this format instead of pretending you have some technical problems that you somehow mysteriously cannot fix.

What a bunch of arse.  I got a response from them that 'the old site is not longer active'.  It was quite useful and must have been very low cost to maintain. It would have been nice to have been told about it's discontinuation.

Yep, asked again yesterday, and they have finally admitted that the old style offerings of CSV files are no longer available and it is only the new JSON files on offer now...

My email on the 28th, almost a month after I first asked them the question...

Hi JP, can we now safely assume that the 'technical issue' is permanent? And that the urgency previously mentioned is no longer a matter of concern for BF? And that in truth, what has really happened is that BF have decided to pull the plug on some things without actually telling anyone prior to pulling said plug and are using the old nugget of 'technical issue' as a way of doing it on the quiet, so a to minimise any fuss that may be made by some of the users...

The new format, makes it extremely difficult for folks who are less technically proficient, it makes it more difficult to actually get at simple information and for many folks who used the older csv style files from data.betfair many will be unable to utilise the new format without a huge amount of work for even the simplest things, or without input from a coder, which further inhibits many folks, as one would assume a coder would generally want paying for their time of course.

If I have missed something, like the CSV files are actually back online, then please accept my apologies, and do please point me towards them.

Kind regards and thanks

---

RESPONSE

Thanks for getting back to us.

Although, at the time of the original ticket, we did have a technical issue with both the Historical Data and Developer Forum websites, I can now see that the response we gave regarding this temporary issue was not the correct answer to your question. Regardless of the issue we were experiencing at the time, you were correct in surmising that the 'old' style data that we offered has been superseded by the offering you see at https://historicdata.betfair.com/#/home

Kind Regards,

Betfair Developer Program

---

So JSON it is then, thanks for letting us all know...

Last time I communicated with them in early December they said they were hoping to get the old site back up next week.

This new data.  I can't even work out how to download it!  I just get errors.  And it only goes back to 2015?

Ah . .it seems I can if I just choose a single month. However, I have no idea what to do with it.

@Cosmic Horizon, re getting it back up and running.

Well, they told me the same back on Nov 17 and Dec 17, but have since stated that it was wrong.

Thus it would appear there was little to no intention of getting the old data page up and running again and this was just the response they were handing out.

It is a shame because the new format is far too complicated and disjointed for the average punter to pick out the few sections they want, it is a pain in the arse even trying to figure out which set of folders/files you want, so you have trouble filtering out the stuff you don't want right from the outset.

It makes it extremely difficult to get at the simplest information, for my own part, I do not give a **** about pretending it is streaming so I can see it in real time, all I need is some basic info, which was easily picked out of the old style CSV files, but then, maybe that was the point/problem and making it more convoluted is a strategy from BF to make life harder for the average punter to find the info they want, who knows.

What I do know, after offering the service for a such a long time now, and people getting used to it and incorporating it into their regular workflow, cutting it out now with little to no warning, changing the format with little to no warning, cutting out the average jo and requiring some developer style knowledge are all a bit **** and inconsiderate in my opinion.

I get they can do what they like in the end, it is their data, their service, but it just strikes me as another example of how little they think of you, I and everyone else as invested customers.

What then is actually happening with this site, i am relentlessly trying to open these files after following the instructions yet when it opens in notepad its just well unreadable and then how are you supposed to convert it so its readable? all i want is an excel or csv download .