The NBA and official player tracking partner Stats LLC have expanded their long-running partnership to allow SportVU data to be used by league media partners ESPN and Turner Sports. Previously limited to NBA teams and NBA Digital assets, the SportVU motion tracking player data will now be made available through various ESPN platforms, the NBA on TNT, and Turner Sports-owned Bleacher Report. The NBA began working with Stats in ’06, started using SportVU in ’09, and then enlarged the deal to track every league game in ’13. “This expanded partnership with Stats will give fans new opportunities to access SportVU’s groundbreaking statistical information across numerous media outlets, allowing them to deepen their understanding of the game,” said NBA Exec VP/Operations & Technology Steve Hellmuth. The SportVU data provides a variety of expanded player measurements, such as distance and speed ran, ball possession time, and separation from defending players. The data will continue to be available through league platforms NBA TV, NBA.com and the NBA mobile app.
