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Further expanding Genius Sports’ reach and visibility in North American wagering and sports, the firm’s Second Spectrum subsidiary has penned a deal with the NBA.
The agreement between the London-based, NYSE-registered sportstech firm and the basketball league will focus on data and analytics, continuing to integrate NBA tracking data, basketball insights and analytics engine.
On a broader scale, Second Spectrum has been named the Official NBA League Pass Augmentation Provider and an Official NBA Team Basketball Analytics Provider, covering two core projects.
“As one of the most technologically advanced leagues in world sport, NBA teams, fans, broadcasters and media partners demand cutting-edge innovations,” said Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports.
“We’re thrilled to expand our long-term partnership with the NBA. We are proud that the NBA shares our vision that Dragon can solve the technology challenges of the future.”
As the augmentation and analytics partner of the league, Second Spectrum will work with the NBA on research and development of next-gen tech platform ‘Dragon’.
This new platform will serve to track ‘mesh’ data and synthesise millions of on-court basketball data points, whilst the NBA will also utilise Second Spectrum’s augmentation technology for enhanced graphics based on optical on-court basketball data.
The data will be used to create alternate telecasts available on NBA League Pass, featuring team and player statistics integrated directly into streams, with the aim of ‘enriching the experience and providing viewing optimality for analytics-focused fans’.
From its London HQ, Genius Sports has been pursuing expansion in the US for some time, having inked deals with a range of sports leagues and betting operators, whilst securing an NYSE listing back in 2021.
Taking its growth strategy into 2023, the firm has started the year strong, putting pen to paper with the likes of the XFL and the PGA Tour.
The company’s full year trading results for 2022 are due for publication later today.
