Basketball’s world governing body, FIBA has deepened its commitment to integrity, announcing a long-term renewal of its partnership with Genius Sports.
Dating back to 2004, FIBA has formed a united front with Genius Sports to combat corruption with technology that has transformed the data and digital infrastructure of over 200 basketball leagues and federations worldwide.
FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis commented on the extension: “We are very pleased to continue this long-term and unique relationship with Genius Sports. We have been working together for more than 15 years to develop and offer state-of-the-art digital tools for national federations and leagues.
“Thanks to this renewal, we will continue the joint efforts in creating innovative tools and make sure that our sport is even more attractive to fans around the world.”
As part of the extension, the partnership will continue to support the adoption of essential solutions such as digital competition management tool, FIBA Organizer, FIBA and LiveStats.
FIBA LiveStats aims to enhance the capture and distribution of split-second statistics to enrich the live fan experience for basketball audiences globally as well as deliver new commercial opportunities for the sport. This includes across league and federations’ official websites, mobile apps, social media, broadcast, OTT and highlights platforms, fantasy sports, sponsors and in-stadia scoreboards.
As part of its commitment to eradicating data piracy, both parties will also work closely to prevent the collection of unofficial data from FIBA events. Prohibiting the collection and distribution of unofficial feeds will provide leagues and national federations with optimum control and visibility over its data, maintaining its commercial value and strengthening the integrity of its competitions from betting-related corruption.
Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports Group, added on the deal: “The Genius Sports and FIBA partnership has been one of the most influential and innovative in sports technology. Together, we’ve powered over 500,000 games from courtside in over 150 countries and engaged more than 25 million fans.
“But, this renewal is as much about the future as our achievements to date, and we’re excited to introduce a number of cutting-edge innovations later this year, driving the next stage of digital transformation and data analytics for leagues and federations at all levels of basketball.”
