NBA Nets Cloud and AI Deal With AWS; Will Launch New NBA Inside the Game' Intelligence PlatformNBA Inside the Game will introduce a suite of features that enhance live broadcasts and elevate fan experiences across the NBA App, NBA.com, and the league's social channels. By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. Thursday, October 2, 2025 - 11:29 am
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The NBA and AWS have inked a multi-year partnership that makes AWS the Official Cloud and Cloud AI Partner of the NBA and its affiliate leagues, including the WNBA, NBA G League, Basketball Africa League and NBA Take-Two Media. Under terms of the deal, the NBA and AWS will launch NBA Inside the Game powered by AWS, a new basketball intelligence platform that will turn billions of data points into compelling insights and interactive experiences for fans.
Built on AWS's AI infrastructure, the platform will introduce a suite of features that enhance live broadcasts and elevate fan experiences across the NBA App, NBA.com, and the league's social channels.
Partnering with AWS provides us with an opportunity to elevate the live game experience through innovation and offer fans a deeper understanding of the game of basketball for years to come, says NBA Executive Vice President and Head of Media Operations and Technology Ken DeGennaro. AWS has a proven track record of delivering unique statistical insights and offering transformative experiences that will resonate with NBA fans around the world.
At AWS, we're excited by the NBA's vision to push the boundaries of what's possible in sports, says AWS Vice President of Professional Services & Agentic AI Francessca Vasquez. This partnership will showcase how cloud and AI can reimagine the game of basketball from generating new insights to creating experiences that bring fans closer to the game they love. Together, we're delivering technology that not only enhances live broadcasts and digital platforms, but also transforms how players, coaches, and fans understand basketball.
The deals brings AWS's expertise in sports analytics to the NBA, having already deepened fan engagement in other sports such as the NFL with Next Gen Stats, F1 via F1 Insights, and Bundesliga with Bundesliga Match Facts.
Microsoft was previously the league's official Cloud and AI partner as part of a deal signed in 2020. Microsoft and the league teamed up to revamp of the NBA App prior to the prior to the 2024-25 season. SBJ reports that the league will continue working with Microsoft on various projects. In addition, the app will not change from a fan-facing perspective, but AWS will be powering the backend moving forward.
AI-Powered Advanced StatsThe NBA will leverage AWS's AI capabilities to provide fans with live stats and comprehensive analytics during games. This new advanced statistics platform processes the NBA's player tracking data, which analyzes the movements of 29 data points per player (capture via the league's Sony Hawk-Eye system) using machine learning and AI to contextualize in-game developments and generate real-time insights. Fans can deepen their understanding of the game by accessing new statistics via the NBA App, NBA.com and during live NBA games, including during NBA on Prime broadcasts.
Throughout the 2025-26 season, the NBA and AWS will introduce new AI-powered stats that capture aspects of basketball performance that have not been measured previously, starting with Defensive Box Score, Shot Difficulty, and Gravity.
Defensive Box Score: Reimagining Basketball's Fundamental Metric
Defensive Box Score quantifies individual defensive contributions that traditional statistics cannot measure. AI algorithms detect which defender is responsible for each offensive player in real-time. Once the primary defender is determined, the traditional box score can now be enhanced by identifying the defender at the time each stat was recorded. Additional new metrics like ball pressure, double teams and defensive switches can now be viewed and tallied as well.
Shot Difficulty: The Science of Shooting
Shot Difficulty transcends traditional make-or-miss statistics to evaluate every aspect of each shot attempt. The difficulty of attempted shots will be quantified with new stats such as Expected Field Goal % which takes into account various factors such as the shooter's orientation and setup, defensive contest details related to pressure, interference, and each player's positioning on the court. This new statistic gives fans a deeper appreciation for the skill and strategy behind every scoring attempt.
Gravity: Quantifying the Invisible Impact
Gravity showcases what coaches and analysts have observed for years - how certain players create advantages for teammates simply by being on the court, even without touching the ball. This new stat measures the level of attention a player receives from the defense, including how closely they're guarded with or without the ball, to quantify the amount of space they create for their teammates. This revolutionary system processes optical tracking data 60 times per second, using custom neural networks to analyze how defenders react to specific players, while factoring in real-time game context and historical data.
Transforming Basketball IntelligenceNBA Inside the Game powered by AWS will also feature a first-of-its-kind technology called Play Finder, which uses AI to analyze and understand player movements across thousands of games. Utilizing AWS services such as Amazon Bedrock and Amazon SageMaker, the feature will enable instant search and retrieval of similar plays, laying the foundation for future generative AI integrations built on player tracking data. Play Finder will help fans and broadcasters learn common offensive strategies and explore deeper
