The NBA has signed a multiyear extension with Cisco Systems, the league's official technology partner since '07. Cisco will maintain a series of category rights for the NBA, WNBA, NBA D-League and USA Basketball. The new deal, however, contains a series of new elements, including a larger role with the WNBA. Cisco will help create a new Cisco WNBA Inspiring the Future Award recognizing exceptional female leaders in tech education. The extension also calls for the creation of a committee involving NBA and Cisco execs to "enhance courtside connectivity within NBA venues." Financial terms were not disclosed. NBA Exec VP/Global Marketing Partnerships Emilio Collins said, "Cisco has consistently incorporated innovative technology solutions into our partnership, from enabling connections with our fans to transforming collaboration among our employees. As we continue to look at growing the game experience and the ways in which it can be presented and consumed, we know that Cisco will play a vital leadership role with us." The committee will include NBA Entertainment Exec VP/Operations & Technology Steve Hellmuth and NBA Senior VP & CIO Michael Gliedman, among others, along with Cisco engineers. Among the specific goals for the panel are to explore the creation of multiple data networks within a single arena. The idea there would be to prevent overloading any individual network, allowing for better performance in both game operations data needs and fan usage.
