Sports Data Campus and NBN23: Basketball Analytics

Sports Data Campus and Spanish technology company NBN23 announced a collaboration agreement in October 2021 to advance basketball analytics.

Under the agreement, NBN23 would become the main collaborator of the Experto en Analítica Avanzada aplicada al Basket offered by Sports Data Campus and UCAM. Students would work on projects using data obtained through NBN23’s API, creating opportunities for both organisations.

Sports Data Campus and NBN23 Join Forces to Advance Basketball Analytics

The partnership aimed to strengthen the study of basketball by connecting students with extensive match data and giving NBN23 access to new analytical perspectives.

About NBN23

NBN23 develops digital solutions to improve the experience of basketball fans. According to the original announcement, within just five years the company had digitised more grassroots basketball games than any other company worldwide, with the ambition of building the world’s largest network of basketball fans.

Access to Basketball Data from Multiple Countries

Alongside students on the Experto en Analítica Avanzada aplicada al Basket, students on the Máster en Big Data Deportivo would gain access to a database containing extensive information for their own analysis and conclusions.

The announcement noted that the two programmes had brought together more than 500 students over the preceding two years. The agreement would provide access to detailed match statistics from multiple countries, allowing students to choose competitions digitised by NBN23 according to their interests.

For NBN23, the collaboration offered the opportunity to engage data enthusiasts in analysing the information it had been collecting. Their projects could generate insights relevant to sporting performance, injury prevention, team scouting and other areas of basketball development, encouraging continued exploration of the company’s data.

NBN23 basketball applications showing live scores on a smartphone and digital scorekeeping on a tablet — Source: NBN23.

Masterclasses, Student Projects and Sports Data Fórum

The agreement also included visibility for NBN23 in projects undertaken by students on the master’s programme, the delivery of masterclasses during the course and participation in Sports Data Fórum, described in the announcement as one of Spain’s major Big Data events.

Miguel Bullón, CEO of NBN23 at the time of the announcement, described the agreement as “a partnership that can bring multiple benefits to both organisations”. He also highlighted the potential of match data analysis:

“Data will revolutionise basketball as we know it, and we are confident that our partnership with Sports Data Campus will produce insights that help improve it. Future developments at NBN23 will undoubtedly include improvements drawn from projects carried out within the specialist programme or the master’s programme.”