IndexError: list index out of range when filtering json dict

Question

I am getting IndexError: list index out of range for my code below. I am trying to collect the game info for just the NFL games that are current. I have found two ways to identify the games in the JSON, but getting this error when I run the code. I'm new to python, so apologies if the answer is an obvious one. Thanks.

    # US FOOTBALL EVENT INFO API LINK
    link = 'http://xxxxxx.net/v1/feeds/sportsbookv2/event/group/1000093199.json?app_id=21e03bb8&app_key' \
           '=c0191eaf354cc07bc3769817b8c1acd0&local=en_AU&includeparticipants=false&site=www.xxxx.com.au '

    # Request data from link as 'str'
    data = requests.get(link).text
    # convert 'str' to Json
    data = json.loads(data)
    # JSON PARSE
    for event_data in data['events']:
        if event_data['group'] == 'NFL' and event_data['tags'][3] == 'MATCH':
                competition = event_data['group']
                event_id = event_data['id']
                event_name = event_data['name']
                event_start = event_data['start']
                event_status = event_data['state']

                print(competition, event_id, event_name, event_start, event_status)

this prints out the following:

NFL 1018663095 Denver Broncos - Indianapolis Colts 2022-10-07T00:15:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663094 Buffalo Bills - Pittsburgh Steelers 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663086 Cleveland Browns - Los Angeles Chargers 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663084 Jacksonville Jaguars - Houston Texans 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663083 Minnesota Vikings - Chicago Bears 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663082 New England Patriots - Detroit Lions 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663081 New Orleans Saints - Seattle Seahawks 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018667663 New York Jets - Miami Dolphins 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663077 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Atlanta Falcons 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663074 Washington Commanders - Tennessee Titans 2022-10-09T17:00:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663073 Carolina Panthers - San Francisco 49ers 2022-10-09T20:05:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663072 Arizona Cardinals - Philadelphia Eagles 2022-10-09T20:25:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663069 Los Angeles Rams - Dallas Cowboys 2022-10-09T20:25:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663039 Baltimore Ravens - Cincinnati Bengals 2022-10-10T00:20:00Z NOT_STARTED
NFL 1018663037 Kansas City Chiefs - Las Vegas Raiders 2022-10-11T00:15:00Z NOT_STARTED
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\xxxxx\OneDrive\Desktop\xxxxx-functions\testing.py", line 44, in <module>
    event_info()
  File "C:\Users\xxxxx\OneDrive\Desktop\xxxxx-functions\testing.py", line 23, in event_info
    if event_data['group'] == 'NFL' and event_data['tags'][3] == 'MATCH':
IndexError: list index out of range

In the JSON for the NFL games there is a key called "tags" which I am using to identify which are the games (other markets available in the JSON which i dont want to collect with this function). The tags look like this

{
    "englishName": "Cleveland Browns - Los Angeles Chargers",
    "groupId": 1000093656,
    "homeName": "Cleveland Browns",
    "groupSortOrder": 2876820019684212736,
    "path": 
    [
        {
            "englishName": "American Football",
            "termKey": "american_football",
            "name": "American Football",
            "id": 1000093199
        },
        {
            "englishName": "NFL",
            "termKey": "nfl",
            "name": "NFL",
            "id": 1000093656
        }
    ],
    "id": 1018663086,
    "state": "NOT_STARTED",
    "group": "NFL",
    "start": "2022-10-09T17:00:00Z",
    "nonLiveBoCount": 144,
    "tags": 
    [
        "",
        "OFFERED_LIVE",
        "BET_BUILDER",
        "MATCH"
    ],
    "awayName": "Los Angeles Chargers",
    "name": "Cleveland Browns - Los Angeles Chargers",
    "sport": "AMERICAN_FOOTBALL"
}

but i think the error is coming from when the other leagues are scanned and the tags key only has

{
    "englishName": "Montreal Alouettes - Ottawa RedBlacks",
    "groupId": 1000093370,
    "homeName": "Montreal Alouettes",
    "groupSortOrder": 3874820019684212736,
    "path": 
    [
        {
            "englishName": "American Football",
            "termKey": "american_football",
            "name": "American Football",
            "id": 1000093199
        },
        {
            "englishName": "CFL",
            "termKey": "cfl",
            "name": "CFL",
            "id": 1000093370
        }
    ],
    "id": 1018400365,
    "state": "NOT_STARTED",
    "group": "CFL",
    "start": "2022-10-10T17:00:00Z",
    "nonLiveBoCount": 3,
    "tags": 
    [
        "OFFERED_LIVE",
        "BET_BUILDER",
        "MATCH"
    ],
    "awayName": "Ottawa RedBlacks",
    "name": "Montreal Alouettes - Ottawa RedBlacks",
    "sport": "AMERICAN_FOOTBALL"
}

Answer 1

The error tells you what you need to know here, it even references the line number

The problem is with event_data['tags'][3]

You're reaching a value in your data where event_data['tags'] has less than 4 entries so index 3 is out of bounds.

Throw your code in a Try block and handle the error if it comes up

try:
   if event_data['group'] == 'NFL' and event_data['tags'][3] == 'MATCH':
       #your other code here
except(IndexError):
   continue