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The Analytical Revolution Continues
ShotTracker, a sensor-based basketball analytics company, has raised $11 million in funding — but what will they do with the money?
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Friends,
Here’s a wild stat:
NBA teams were only averaging 2.8 three-point attempts (3PA) per game in 1980, but today, they attempt about 30 per game — an increase of almost 1,000%.
Furthermore, NBA All-Stars like James Harden and Stephen Curry typically shoot more than 10 three-pointers in a single game themselves.
The reason?
Analytics.
Ever since Billy Beane & Paul DePodesta introduced analytics within baseball at the start of the 21st century — think Moneyball — almost every major professional sports league in the world, from baseball & football to soccer & golf, has gotten involved.
Today, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a single major professional sports organization globally that doesn’t employ an analytics department in some capacity.
Now, the trend appears to be strengthening one level further.
What am I talking about?
College Basketball.
ShotTracker, a “revolutionary sensor-based system that delivers statistics and analytics to teams, fans, and broadcast networks instantly,” has secured $11 million in funding.
The round was led by Evertz Microsystems and Verizon Ventures, the corporate venture capital investment arm of Verizon Communications.
Here’s some background on ShotTracker:
Founded in 2013
Headquartered in Kansas
Has raised more than $20M
Previous investors include David Stern and Magic Johnson
Furthermore, here’s how ShotTracker works (Source):
ShotTracker is made up of 3 components; anchors, a ShotTracker-enabled ball and player sensors. The anchors, installed in the rafters of the facility, map the court in 3D and track the location of all the player sensors and balls. All of that data gets fed through the ShotTracker system and provides instant access to 70+ unique statistics.
It’s an awesome technology, but the real question becomes:
What do they plan to do with the $11 million?
They’ll expand aggressively.
After deploying their technology across the Mountain West Conference last year, ShotTracker has partnered with more than 60 Division I basketball programs to install and utilize their technology.
Now, they’ll double-down on that effort.
The interesting part?
That’s only part of the plan.
Along with installing their technology in college basketball arenas across the country, which will provide individual teams with an advantage in real-time analytics and ShotTracker with increased distribution, they also want to change how you view the game.
How?
Their newest investor, Evertz Microsystems, is a TV infrastructure provider that will give them the ability to change how certain college basketball games are produced, edited, and viewed by consumers around the world.
Here’s what ShotTracker CEO Bill Moses told Sportico:
“We can create a system where the camera follows our sensors, including our sensor in the ball. We can produce and direct a basketball game with no cameraman present.”
Commercialized broadcast production integrated with real-time sensors?
Now that’s next-level.
Proper integration is paramount for consumer adoption, but it could be massive if they get it right.
Not only would it reduce production-related expenses like headcount, travel, and more, but in a world that’s increasingly focused on sports betting, the data component becomes extremely powerful.
In case you haven’t noticed, analytics in sports are here to stay.
Sports organizations that spent the last two decades building out proper infrastructure and investing in analytical talent have been rewarded — think Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Seahawks, Golden State Warriors, and more.
Next up?
The natural evolution of arming consumers with the data and integrating it compellingly through sports-gambling-related production.
In the end, I think that makes a lot of sense.
Have a great day, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
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