The NBA achieved new attendance (22 million) and global fan engagement records last season (more than a billion viewers around the world tuned in at some point). A mobile-focused digital approach that engages fans in enticing new ways contributed to the League’s success. Melissa Brenner, the NBA's executive vice president of digital media, says, "We're bringing the globe courtside." The NBA improved League Pass, their live-streaming program that allows fans to watch games in all markets, significantly in 2017. More cameras were added in every arena, and Mobile View, which delivers tighter, zoomed-in angles for smaller screens, was introduced as well, more than a third of members watch on mobile devices.

So, how did it all begin?

Former NBA commissioner David Stern started it all in 1987, when he didn't charge China's government-run TV channel a penny to show NBA games because he knew that getting more eyes on his product, especially from overseas, was more essential than making quick money. That's the same mindset that Mark Zuckerberg had when he and his partners tried to monetize Facebook early on (ok, at least according to the movie). Stern's successor, Adam Silver, continued Stern's forward-thinking, big-picture approach by enabling fans to share NBA highlights on social media. The NBA started supporting research on wearable devices for players last year with the goal of better understanding players' bodies and, hopefully, preventing injuries.

The league's enthusiasm for big data and technological developments extends beyond business; it has altered the way teams operate and compete. Mark Cuban has always experimented with new technology to help his Dallas Mavericks players develop. Over the last half-decade, teams have begun to employ advanced metrics, which has resulted in a sea change in the way the game is played, thus turning the sport on its head. Do you need an example? The Warriors won their Western Conference Finals by a seven-game margin over the Oklahoma City Thunder, despite the fact that Thunder were bigger, taller, stronger, and arguably faster at that time.

Moreover, the NBA realized it had struck gold and began using the technique for its own clubs. As a global league, it has a plethora of social channels, apps, and websites, each with its own owners in the league offices and throughout the world. Now, each of those folks, according to Carney, could tell the NBA what they wanted to see in order to best serve their audiences, and tools would be able to produce the content that vary instantly after each night's games.

The NBA would never have developed a nightly package for a middle-of-the-road player like Australian Matthew Dellavedova. However, with over ten Australian players in the NBA, there is a need for frequent highlights from Down Under, and several tools now allow them to get exactly what they want, including all of the Dellavedova clips they could possibly want.

Since there’s so much tech involved in NBA these days, it’s crucial to keep relevant and apt data to be available! Now from where can you get such a piece of data, and how would you select?

Go with a data partner who is offerings, historical data, pre-match, post-match data, customer support, packages or tailored flexible arrangements, and free trials. A provider who offers flexible data formats and delivery methods will make data handling in your system easier. The most prevalent data transport formats are XML, JSON, and CSV.

Real-time and accurate data providers will help you increase engagement on your platform, data providers must be able to swiftly update their algorithms and formulae to reflect the most up-to-date data. Make sure the data provider you select can provide data for multiple sports. So, when you expand to a new geography or a new market where some other sport is followed you don’t need to search for a new data feed provider.

Now that we know, there’re a lot many things to consider, looking out for a sports data provider that can handle NBA-level big data, and provide you with the best results is exactly what you need right now! Looking for basketball XML data or basketball coverage agency? Don’t worry, we got your back. Data Sports Group is one such sports data provider and the best undoubtedly to provide you with relevant NBA data feed as well. With tens of thousands of sporting events covered each year.

DSG is a top live sports data provider that can give basketball data as well. Our sports data API solutions are used by industry leaders in digital, gaming, fantasy sports, fan interaction, and predictive analytics all over the world.