The growth and influence of statistical match analysis has shaped huge portions of high level sport in recent times, with basketball being no exception. The NBA’s running partnership with STATS LLC and it’s SportVU package has continued to provide a comprehensive source of player tracking data for the 30 teams’ to use for their training regimen, scouting and player development. This week saw the announcement of the expansion of this partnership to allow a vast range of media outlets- including ESPN, NBA on TNT and The Bleacher report- to similarly make use of the data this technology collects.
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The SportVU technology uses data produced by a 6-camera network in each basketball arena to observe real-time player and ball positions 25 times per second. The hope is that wider media’s application of SportVU statistics regarding aspects such as players’ rebounding, shooting and passing will aid fans with improved understanding of decisions like substitutions, line-ups and play-calling. This prospect is reiterated by NBA Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology Steve Hellmuth, who expects SportVU’s innovative approach ‘to deepen’ fans’ ‘understanding of our game’.
Since the NBA’s first experimentation with SportVU in games in 2009, there has been marked growth in its use and implementation. In 2013 its use was increased to every game in the NBA, and now such statistics will no longer be restricted to the team personnel- it will become far more accessible to both the occasional and die-hard fan alike. With the aid of social media, the spread of knowledge from media outlets to fans will be able to be conducted to enormous audiences over vast distances, and in extremely little time.
“We look forward to taking our partnership with the NBA to the next level by making STATS SportVU data available to media outlets around the world,” said Jordan Rosen, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategic Partnerships at STATS. “By making available a robust set of innovative data, we can provide a more sophisticated level of analytics to NBA fans across a rapidly growing number of platforms.”
This expansion follows on from SportVU’s application within the 2015 International Champions Cup played in China, in which soccer teams with significant global appeal such as Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid all competed. Not only does this represent SportVU’s potential for cross-sport expansion as part of its progression, but it is an example of how successful high-profile partnerships, such as that with the NBA, will continue to endorse the use of player-tracking technology within a variety of high-level sports.
SportVU also forms part of the growing movement to incorporate fans into high level sport in an increasingly integrated way. The NBA now broadcasts games in 215 countries, demonstrating its immense presence on the global stage, and also the tremendous fan-base it now possesses. Whether it be in other professional leagues, such as the NFL through the New York Jet’s experimentation with fan experience through virtual reality headsets, or in basketball through SportVU player-tracking, technology is including fans in professional sport in an unprecedented manner. For this reason, the NBA seems extremely wise in further strengthening their connection with fans.
The meteoric rise of this technology within sport is showing no signs of slowing, and fan’s awareness and appreciation of statistics to supplement basketball in the NBA will only grow. The days of the NBA super-geek are just beginning.