Sports Reference Blog

At the beginning of the 2019 season, Pro Football Reference announced the addition of advanced offensive statistics, provided by Sportradar, the NFL's exclusive distributor for official real-time scores, player statistics and play-by-play data. This week, we have also incorporated advanced defensive statistics from Sportradar. These stats include:

* Times targeted as a defender
* Receiving yards per reception allowed
* Completion percentage and passer rating allowed on targets
* Average depth of target as a defender
* Yards after catch allowed
* Times brought on a QB blitz
* QB pressures (hurries + knockdowns + sack plays)
* Missed tackles

We've added these statistics to 2018 players and will be updating them for 2019 as well. These statistics are provided via game charting and will be populated by the Wednesday following completion of the game, if not earlier. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us through our feedback form or Pro Football Reference's official Twitter account. Thanks for following PFR!

The most recent league addition to FBref's vast stable of domestic football competitions around the world is Venezuela's Primera División. We have this league's standings covered back to 2014-15, and player statistics back to 2016. Some young Venezuelan players abroad who have Primera División history include Sergio Córdova and Jefferson Savarino. Córdova currently plays for Augsburg in the Bundesliga, but played for Caracas in 2016 and 2017. Savarino is a key scorer for Real Salt Lake in MLS, carrying that skill over from his 20 goals scored for Zulia in 2016 and 2017.

You can also follow along with the ongoing 2019 season, currently in Week 9 of the Clausura phase. You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

In a huge addition for 2019, Pro Football Reference will now be bringing you advanced stats provided by Sportradar, the NFL's exclusive distributor for official real-time scores, player statistics and play-by-play data. In addition to the usual stat coverage you've come to expect from us, we're adding:

* Air yards passing and receiving - indicating how far a pass traveled in the air before it was caught.
* Yards after catch - receiving yards minus air yards, how far a receiver ran after catching the ball
* Receiving drops - receptions missed on balls given a reasonable (non-Odell Beckham-level) effort
* Bad throws by QBs - throws that weren't catchable with normal effort
* Times QBs were blitzed - either 5+ players rushed the QB or a DB rushed the QB
* Times QBs were hurried - defined as a situation when the QB is forced to throw the ball earlier than intended or is chased around/out of the pocket as the result of defensive pressure
* Times QBs were hit - occurs when the QB hits the ground after a throw, not marked on a sack play
* Quarterback scrambles and yards on scrambles (vs. designed quarterback runs)
* Yards before and after contact - defined as the number of yards gained after first contact from a defender
* Broken tackles, both rushing and receiving - the number of times that the runner does something significant to get past/through a defender

We've added these stats to the 2018 passing, rushing, and receiving pages, as well as on player pages and team pages and will be updating them on 2019 pages as soon as games start. These stats are provided via game charting and will be fully populated by the Wednesday following completion of the game, if not earlier. Look for more stat additions as the season continues!

Among international competitions FBref already covers include the entire history of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the UEFA men's Champions League and the UEFA men's Europa League. We've recently added domestic leagues for various South American countries, and now we have also added the continental Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana to our coverage. Both competitions are covered back to their 2014 editions. The 2018 Copa Libertadores was claimed by River Plate, who defeated Boca Juniors in the finals on 5-3 aggregate. One key contributor to their squad was Gonzalo Nicolás Martínez, who recorded 3 goals and 2 assists in the tournament, including a goal in the 2nd leg of the final. Martínez has since moved on to join Atlanta United in MLS.

We are also covering the 2019 editions of these tournaments, which are currently in the quarterfinal stages. Palmeiras is currently leading in their Copa Libertadores quarterfinal matchup with Gremio, thanks to a lone goal scored by Gustavo Scarpa, who is tied for the tournament lead with 6 goals so far. The 2019 Copa Sudamericana is also in the quarterfinal stages, with the matchup between Corinthians and Fluminense among the yet to be resolved face-offs. Corinthians has gotten here in part thanks to Vágner Love, who scored 2 goals in 69 minutes played in the 2nd leg of their Round of 16 matchup against Montevideo Wanderers. Love spent his prime winning 4 Russian Premier League titles with CSKA Moscow in the 2000s.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

Basketball Reference, in addition to covering statistics for the NBA and WNBA, also covers various basketball leagues around the world, such as Spain's Liga ACB, France's LNB Pro A and Italy's Lega Basket Serie A.

We recently added coverage of Australia's National Basketball League back to its 2011-12 season. Looking at the 2018-19 season's NBL player statistics, you'll spot Andrew Bogut leading the league in rebounds per game before he got called back to the NBA by the Golden State Warriors. Other NBA players with stints in the NBL in recent years include Patty Mills, Jonny Flynn and Al Harrington.

We will also be tracking the upcoming 2019-20 NBL season, which will be of interest to people paying attention to the prospects for the 2020 NBA Draft, as RJ Hampton, Lamelo Ball and Terry Armstrong are all expected to play in Australia this year in preparation for potential selection by an NBA team.

Cross-referencing newly created international pages with NBA pages where applicable is a large project that we hope to work through in the near future. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact us through our feedback form.

India's football system is unique in that it houses two recognized top-tier leagues: the Indian Super League as well as the I-League. FBref now has statistics for both of these leagues on the web site. In the I-League, one import who's made an impact is Enrique Esqueda, who spent a decade in Mexican football and in 2018-19 contributed 9 goals and 3 assists to East Bengal's 2nd-place finish. In the Super League, Goa has been led by Ferran Corominas, who's scored at least 15 goals in each of the last 2 seasons after spending a decade in Spain.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

FBref has been adding various South American leagues to its list of covered competitions, and now the site will also have coverage of Uruguay's Primera División, from its 2014-15 season through its currently ongoing 2019 season. Diego Rossi currently has 13 goals with MLS Supporters' Shield frontrunners Los Angeles FC, having joined the team after a productive age-18 season in 2017 with Peñarol, where he contributed 10 goals to their league-winning campaign. A new arrival to La Liga this season is Gabriel Fernández, who will be joining Celta Vigo after fruitful seasons with Racing and Peñarol in Uruguay.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

Our next addition to FBref's ever expanding stable of domestic competitions covered on the site is Peru's top level of football, Liga 1 de Fútbol Profesional, also known as Torneo Descentralizado. We have player statistics for the league back to its 2015 season, and are also tracking the 2019 season as the clubs begin their Torneo Clausura phase.

One player who gets some history filled out with this addition is Raúl Ruidíaz, who currently leads the 2019 Seattle Sounders in goals. Ruidíaz was a double-digit scorer for Universitario in Peru before moving on to Morelia in Liga MX and then jumping to Seattle in MLS. Carlos Ascues is also plying his trade in MLS with Orlando City. His previous club was Alianza Lima, making 10 appearances on their 2017 title-winning squad.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

FBref continues to add coverage of domestic leagues around the world, this time with the introduction of our South African Premier Division statistics. We have player statistics for this league back to the 2015-16 season, and we are keeping track of the 2019-20 season which just kicked off this month.

One name to keep an eye on in Europe is Lyle Foster, an 18-year-old who's already made a start for Monaco's Ligue 1 squad. In his age-16 season he made 9 league appearances with Orlando Pirates in the Premier Division, recording 1 goal and 1 assist. Club Brugge is in the middle of the Champions League qualifying rounds, and has Percy Tau on their side. Tau led the Premier Division with 11 goals helping Mamelodi Sundowns to a league title.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.

FBref now has the Saudi Professional League in its list of covered competitions, with statistics from its 2014-15 season to the 2019-20 season, which will start up later this month.

There aren't many Saudi players abroad, although this addition still helps for a couple of players in leagues we already cover. For example, Jamal Bajandouh is playing for Varaždin in Croatia's 1. HNL this year after spending 5 seasons with Al-Ittihad. One player to keep an eye on in this year's Pro League season is Djaniny, who went from an 18-goal season with Santos in Liga MX in 2017-18 to a 20-goal, 6-assist season with Al-Ahli last season, en route to a 4th place finish on the league table.

You can keep up with the latest additions of country coverage and new features here on the Sports Reference Blog, or by signing up for the This Week in Sports Reference mailing list. Feel free to send us any questions or suggestions through our feedback form or FBref's official Twitter account.