Orlando Magic, the NBA team based out of Orlando, Florida has renewed its partnership with Chicago based sports technology and data analytics firm Stats Perform for its data collection and distribution. The deal will see Orlando Magic also have access to AutoStats, the platform enhanced through AI recognition technology.
The team from Orlando initially signed a deal with Stats Perform in 2019 and became the first NBA franchise to generate a more data-dependent outlook to assess its upcoming players through the college ranks. As part of the renewal, the AI-based platform AutoStats will generate training and match data from the recorded videos available.
The technology uses video and computer vision to identify player positions and movements across the entirety of the court without the need for in-venue hardware. Through this technology the franchise will be able to assess its upcoming talent in a much better and deeper way, judging their strengths and weaknesses to work on. This will also give the management a better idea of how to phase in the upcoming players within the first team.
Chief Revenue Officer at Stats Perform, Steve Xeller, shared his thoughts on the partnership extension and said, “The Orlando Magic has been the ideal partner for Stats Perform as we bring to market a new depth of college data and insight that has never been available before. AutoStats is the future of player tracking, and it is important that we work with innovative teams like the Magic that embrace data and technology to create more informed data-driven decisions.”
He further added, “Working with the Magic’s premier analytics team, we have generated player dashboards with exciting insights on the next generation of NBA stars, providing deeper information for the draft and recruiting process. We look forward to continuing this exciting partnership with the team.”
The extension reiterates the commitment and focus of Stats Perform to take sports to a whole new level. The idea is to improve the game and power as much data as possible, so teams can work on minute details to enhance their performances. In other words, in-game competitiveness is being targeted which will automatically improve the quality of sports.
Jeff Weltman, the president of Basketball Operations for the Orlando Magic was vocal about their renewed tie-up with Stats Perform and said, “Before AutoStats, we were reliant on college box score and play-by-play data for player evaluation, which only provides a small slice of a player’s overall attributes and playing style. But now being able to back our scouting and prospecting with real data from AutoStats has given us a huge advantage these past two seasons and provided important insights during the recent 2020 NBA Draft.”
Recently, Stats Perform also signed an extension with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for four years, showcasing its association with the game. The deal would see Stats Perform provide data analysis from the ECB’s domestic competitions and home international matches and distribute them to the respective managements of the teams concerned.
Thus, this extension with the Magic seems to be a wise decision for both parties involved and will surely reap rewards in the near future.