diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index e0436f5..0f27684 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ axum = "0.8"
 rusqlite = { version = "0.37", features = ["bundled"] }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
-tokio = { version = "1", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread", "signal"] }
+tokio = { version = "1", features = ["macros", "rt-multi-thread", "signal", "time"] }
 tower-http = { version = "0.6", features = ["cors", "trace"] }
 tracing = "0.1"
 tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3", features = ["env-filter"] }
diff --git a/backend/src/main.rs b/backend/src/main.rs
index fe2cc66..b3c35b7 100644
--- a/backend/src/main.rs
+++ b/backend/src/main.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ use std::{
     env, fs,
     net::{IpAddr, Ipv4Addr, SocketAddr},
     path::{Path as FsPath, PathBuf},
-    sync::Arc,
+    sync::{Arc, Mutex},
+    time::Duration,
 };
 use tokio::net::TcpListener;
 use tower_http::{
@@ -22,11 +23,16 @@ use tower_http::{
 };
 
 const MAX_TEAM_NAME_LENGTH: usize = 80;
+const LEADERBOARD_CACHE_TTL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(300);
 
-#[derive(Clone)]
 struct AppState {
     battles_db: PathBuf,
     teams_db: PathBuf,
+    leaderboard_cache: Mutex<Option<CachedLeaderboard>>,
+}
+
+struct CachedLeaderboard {
+    teams: Vec<TeamLeaderboardRow>,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ struct HealthResponse {
     databases: BTreeMap<&'static str, bool>,
 }
 
-#[derive(Serialize)]
+#[derive(Clone, Serialize)]
 struct LeaderboardResponse {
     teams: Vec<TeamLeaderboardRow>,
 }
@@ -120,7 +126,7 @@ struct TeamSearchRow {
     members: i64,
 }
 
-#[derive(Serialize)]
+#[derive(Clone, Serialize)]
 struct TeamLeaderboardRow {
     team_id: i64,
     name: String,
@@ -288,7 +294,9 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
     let state = Arc::new(AppState {
         battles_db: resolve_db_path("TSS_BATTLES_DB", "tss_battles.db"),
         teams_db: resolve_db_path("TSS_TEAMS_DB", "tss_teams.db"),
+        leaderboard_cache: Mutex::new(None),
     });
+    spawn_leaderboard_refresh(state.clone());
 
     let app = Router::new()
         .route("/health", get(health))
@@ -373,7 +381,17 @@ async fn leaderboard(
     State(state): State<Arc<AppState>>,
     Query(query): Query<LimitQuery>,
 ) -> ApiResult<LeaderboardResponse> {
-    let limit = i64::from(query.limit.unwrap_or(100).clamp(1, 100));
+    let limit = usize::try_from(query.limit.unwrap_or(100).clamp(1, 100)).unwrap_or(100);
+    if let Some(teams) = cached_leaderboard(&state, limit)? {
+        return Ok(Json(LeaderboardResponse { teams }));
+    }
+
+    let rows = leaderboard_rows(&state, limit)?;
+    cache_leaderboard(&state, &rows)?;
+    Ok(Json(LeaderboardResponse { teams: rows }))
+}
+
+fn leaderboard_rows(state: &AppState, limit: usize) -> Result<Vec<TeamLeaderboardRow>, ApiError> {
     let teams_conn = open_db(&state.teams_db)?;
     let battles_conn = open_db(&state.battles_db)?;
     // Deduplicate teams by name across tournaments — pick the highest team_id
@@ -389,11 +407,15 @@ async fn leaderboard(
         .map_err(db_error)?;
 
     let teams = stmt
-        .query_map(params![limit], |row| read_team_record(row))
+        .query_map(params![limit as i64], |row| read_team_record(row))
         .map_err(db_error)?
         .collect::<Result<Vec<_>, _>>()
         .map_err(db_error)?;
-    let mut summaries = team_summaries_for(&battles_conn)?;
+    let team_names = teams
+        .iter()
+        .map(|team| team.name.as_str())
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    let mut summaries = team_summaries_for(&battles_conn, &team_names)?;
 
     let mut rows = Vec::with_capacity(teams.len());
     for team in teams {
@@ -412,7 +434,29 @@ async fn leaderboard(
         });
     }
 
-    Ok(Json(LeaderboardResponse { teams: rows }))
+    Ok(rows)
+}
+
+fn spawn_leaderboard_refresh(state: Arc<AppState>) {
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        loop {
+            let refresh_state = state.clone();
+            match tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || leaderboard_rows(&refresh_state, 100)).await {
+                Ok(Ok(rows)) => {
+                    if let Err(error) = cache_leaderboard(&state, &rows) {
+                        tracing::warn!("could not cache leaderboard refresh: {}", error.message);
+                    }
+                }
+                Ok(Err(error)) => {
+                    tracing::warn!("could not refresh leaderboard cache: {}", error.message);
+                }
+                Err(error) => {
+                    tracing::warn!("leaderboard refresh task failed: {}", error);
+                }
+            }
+            tokio::time::sleep(LEADERBOARD_CACHE_TTL).await;
+        }
+    });
 }
 
 async fn recent_games(
@@ -655,28 +699,38 @@ fn team_summary_for(conn: &Connection, team_name: &str) -> Result<TeamSummary, A
     .map_err(db_error)
 }
 
-fn team_summaries_for(conn: &Connection) -> Result<HashMap<String, TeamSummary>, ApiError> {
-    let mut stmt = conn
-        .prepare(
-            "SELECT
-                team_name,
-                COUNT(DISTINCT session_id),
-                SUM(CASE WHEN victor_bool = 'Win' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END),
-                SUM(CASE WHEN victor_bool != 'Win' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END),
-                COALESCE(SUM(ground_kills), 0),
-                COALESCE(SUM(air_kills), 0),
-                COALESCE(SUM(assists), 0),
-                COALESCE(SUM(deaths), 0),
-                COALESCE(SUM(score), 0),
-                COUNT(DISTINCT UID)
-             FROM player_games_hist
-             WHERE team_name IS NOT NULL AND team_name != ''
-             GROUP BY team_name COLLATE NOCASE",
-        )
-        .map_err(db_error)?;
+fn team_summaries_for(
+    conn: &Connection,
+    team_names: &[&str],
+) -> Result<HashMap<String, TeamSummary>, ApiError> {
+    if team_names.is_empty() {
+        return Ok(HashMap::new());
+    }
+
+    let placeholders = std::iter::repeat("?")
+        .take(team_names.len())
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+        .join(", ");
+    let sql = format!(
+        "SELECT
+            team_name,
+            COUNT(DISTINCT session_id),
+            SUM(CASE WHEN victor_bool = 'Win' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END),
+            SUM(CASE WHEN victor_bool != 'Win' THEN 1 ELSE 0 END),
+            COALESCE(SUM(ground_kills), 0),
+            COALESCE(SUM(air_kills), 0),
+            COALESCE(SUM(assists), 0),
+            COALESCE(SUM(deaths), 0),
+            COALESCE(SUM(score), 0),
+            COUNT(DISTINCT UID)
+         FROM player_games_hist
+         WHERE team_name COLLATE NOCASE IN ({placeholders})
+         GROUP BY team_name COLLATE NOCASE"
+    );
+    let mut stmt = conn.prepare(&sql).map_err(db_error)?;
 
     let summaries = stmt
-        .query_map([], |row| {
+        .query_map(rusqlite::params_from_iter(team_names.iter()), |row| {
             let name: String = row.get(0)?;
             let battles: i64 = row.get(1)?;
             let wins: i64 = row.get(2)?;
@@ -709,6 +763,30 @@ fn team_summaries_for(conn: &Connection) -> Result<HashMap<String, TeamSummary>,
     Ok(summaries)
 }
 
+fn cached_leaderboard(
+    state: &AppState,
+    limit: usize,
+) -> Result<Option<Vec<TeamLeaderboardRow>>, ApiError> {
+    let cache = state
+        .leaderboard_cache
+        .lock()
+        .map_err(|_| ApiError::internal("Leaderboard cache lock failed"))?;
+    Ok(cache.as_ref().and_then(|cached| {
+        (cached.teams.len() >= limit).then(|| cached.teams.iter().take(limit).cloned().collect())
+    }))
+}
+
+fn cache_leaderboard(state: &AppState, teams: &[TeamLeaderboardRow]) -> Result<(), ApiError> {
+    let mut cache = state
+        .leaderboard_cache
+        .lock()
+        .map_err(|_| ApiError::internal("Leaderboard cache lock failed"))?;
+    *cache = Some(CachedLeaderboard {
+        teams: teams.to_vec(),
+    });
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn player_summaries_for(
     teams_conn: &Connection,
     battles_conn: &Connection,