Sports data firm goes all out for NBA fans

Data has become such a huge part of sports nowadays, and fans just can’t seem to get enough of it!

It was extensively used initially in baseball where every player’s performance is literally broken down, and used to analyze every facet of the game.

American football, the NFL does something similar, and it has helped coaches and players better prepare for upcoming matches.

Now basketball is following suit.

I had a nice chat this week with Ben Turner of Sportradar, a corporation that collects and analyzes sports data for various sports federations like the NBA, and also for media companies.

Q: Please talk about how the NBA is leveraging your platform from coaches, players, media and the fans.

Turner: Here at Sportradar, we are one of the world’s leading sports data and technology companies, and we are investing heavily in player tracking to enhance the experience and the data that is available for leagues, teams, players, coaches, for the front office, and ultimately for the fans. 

The fans are at the center of everything we do. We obsess about the fan. We want to create experiences that drive them to new levels of engagement and understanding of the game.

We’ve launched a new player tracking solution with the NBA for the current season, the 2023-24 season that just started. It’s great the NBA is back and I’m sure that you and your readers are big fans, probably of Jordan Clarkson. 

So what we’ve been able to do is upgrade to a 3D Data Capture, now we’re capturing 29 data points on every player, on every movement on the floor. And what those 29 data points enable us to do is to leverage AI machine learning and computer vision to break down every game like never before.

So we are able to break down drives, shots, picks or screens, isolations, post plays, as well as analyze speed load across every play of the NBA season.

Q: So that will help in everyone’s preparation for the next game.

Turner: Exactly! All of the data is available by the Synergy Sports platform, which is a business that Sportradar acquired two years ago, and it’s been used by NBA teams for over twenty years. We’re making the player tracking data all linked to their existing box score and play by