9 Mar 2023
Atlanta, GA (March 9, 2023) — The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sony’s Hawk-Eye Innovations, the leading provider of officiating and tracking technology in sports, today announced a multi-year partnership, beginning with the 2023-24 season, to deploy Hawk-Eye’s 3D optical tracking technology which will, for the first time, enable NBA tracking data to capture the game in real-time in three dimensions, including the movement of each player on the court and the ball, all at sub-second latency. This technology will provide the opportunity to enhance officiating by increasing the accuracy of calls and the speed of gameplay, including, in future seasons, through automated calls on plays such as out-ofbounds and goaltending.
The introduction of Hawk-Eye’s state-of-the-art “pose” data capture product will provide the NBA and its teams with new applications in basketball analytics that will help evolve how we understand on-court data and give fans a real look into the action on the court and deeper analysis of the game. The data generated will also provide collaboration opportunities between the NBA and Sony’s Sports Businesses around virtual game recreations, dynamic visualizations, unique content development and gamification.
“We view it as a real privilege to partner with the NBA - a truly iconic global brand and a leader in innovative sports content,” said Rufus Hack, CEO of Sony’s Sports Businesses. “We look forward to helping them unlock the power of data to continue to enhance officiating and basketball analytics, as well as to drive new immersive fan experiences.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Sony’s Sports Businesses to leverage Hawk-Eye’s cuttingedge 3D optical tracking data,” said Evan Wasch, EVP of Basketball Strategy & Analytics, NBA. “This data will enhance our officiating, power significant insights for our teams, and create a dynamic data set that will improve our game and enable unique engagement opportunities for NBA fans.”
Hawk-Eye has worked closely with the NBA since 2019 in a Proof-of-Concept capacity to fully develop and test their basketball tracking systems. Through data collection at NBA Summer League and six NBA arenas, Hawk-Eye successfully demonstrated and developed a system that meets the accuracy and latency needed to provide best-in-class ball and pose tracking to the NBA.
Sportradar, the league’s exclusive data provider, will also play a critical role in working alongside Hawk-Eye to allow for the generation of accurate, reliable, low-latency tracking data, and the application of best-in-class expertise to automatically generate events, metrics, advanced stats and new engaging insights.
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About the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball. Built around five professional sports leagues: the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2022-23 season feature 120 international players from 40 countries. NBA Digital’s assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass. The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with 2.1 billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
About Hawk-Eye
Hawk-Eye Innovations have been at the forefront of sports officiating and broadcast enhancement technology since 2001. The world’s biggest sporting events trust Hawk-Eye to make the right call, when it matters most. Hawk-Eye’s vision-processing, video replay and creative graphic technologies make sport fairer, safer, more engaging and better informed. Our innovations are constantly changing the face of sports officiating, production, content management, fan engagement in every sport.
Website: https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com/ ⎸ Twitter: @hawkeye_view ⎸ Instagram: @hawkeyeinnovations
Contact Information
NBA
Jacinda Ortiz, Media, Marketing and Entertainment Communications
Hawk-Eye Innovations
Dina Hassan, Global Head of Marketing