Sportradar is expanding its partnership with the NBA by placing more of a focus on fan engagement in a quest to produce a more immersive betting and watching experience than ever before.
The global sports technology company already has deep integrations with NBA betting and media products, serving what it says is a global NBA viewership of up to two billion viewers. Now, it is introducing a suite of AI-assisted fan engagement solutions that it says represents “the next phase in the evolution of basketball consumption.”
By leveraging AI and its own proprietary technology, Sportradar said in a release that it will harness hundreds of thousands of data points from each game to provide new offerings that will benefit not only the NBA and fans but also betting operators and media partners. The evolution will “redefine the standards of fan engagement and open up new revenue streams for the NBA and its partners and Sportradar clients,” said the company.
In particular, the Virtualized Live Match Tracker combines tracking data with a gaming engine to render real-time gameplay in 3D. The aim is to deliver a hyper-personalized and highly customizable stream for viewers that creates an immersive in-play betting experience that keeps viewers engaged and active on sportsbook apps. The tracker will allow users to switch between camera angles, much like the NBA2K video game, as well as to focus on particular players and select relevant statistics to display.
NBA Advanced Visualizations leverage real-time skeletal tracking data of NBA players to create heatmaps and player performance metrics, giving media companies the opportunity to feature dynamic, live game and player reports and offer bettors more comprehensive in-play information.
After launching the 4Sight Streaming product for tennis earlier this year, Sportradar has now extended it to basketball. The product features animated overlays by consuming mass amounts of data, allowing it to predict outcomes to inform in-play bettors.
Lastly, emBET, which was launched earlier this year on NBA League Pass, now allows bettors to track their wagers in-stream. Its availability has also been expanded to include a wider range of devices such as Android.
“Sportradar is committed to deepening our long-standing partnership with the NBA, while also supporting betting operators and media companies in capitalizing on the immense global popularity of the league,” said Eric Conrad, EVP of rights and strategic partnerships, USA and LatAm. “Sportradar’s proprietary technology, underpinned by the application of powerful AI to deep data, continues to reimagine how fans interact with the NBA. We are excited by what the future holds, driven by our constant innovation.”
Sportradar is entering its second season as the NBA’s exclusive tracking data distributor. SVP of Fan Engagement Patrick Mostboeck told reporters that the stronger fan engagement it hopes to encourage with its new product suite can lead to increased loyalty and increased revenue.
Sportradar adds features, acquires XLMedia’s North American assets
The deepening of its NBA offering is the latest move in what has been a big year for Sportradar’s reach and visibility in the U.S. market, driven mostly by AI developments under new Chief Technology Officer and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Google Assistant co-founder Behshad Behzadi.
This summer, it announced it would begin integrating live sports data and betting content into social media video advertisements through its ad:s paid social marketing service.
Calling the move an industry-first, the firm said the integration would unlock new opportunities for social advertisers by delivering more relevant adverts at speed and scale to improve efficiency and value for its online betting and gaming clients.
The tailored short-form social media video ads, which launched with Meta’s social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook, update in real-time to reflect betting market movements, including live odds, casino games and jackpot value. It subsequently added paid search to ad:s, allowing operators to reach and acquire new customers who showcase an interest in gaming.
Meanwhile, in recent days, XLMedia announced it is selling its remaining North American domains to Sportradar in a deal that could be worth up to $30 million. The sites include Crossing Broad, SportsBettingDime, EliteSportsNY and SaturdayDownSouth. XLMedia and Sportradar have worked together since 2022 on sports coverage enhancements.
