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Microsoft (MSFT) Partners With NBA to Enhance Fan Experience
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Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) recently announced that it has inked a deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to become the official AI, Cloud and laptop partner for the NBA as well as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League and USA Basketball starting from the 2020-21 season.
Under the terms of the deal, the company will develop a direct-to-consumer platform on Microsoft Azure, which will utilize AI and machine learning (ML) to enhance the online experience of NBA fans. Additionally, fans, officials and coaches will be able to get unique insights about the game.
Further, the platform will deliver NBA’s historical video archive to the fans along with live and on-demand game broadcasts through Microsoft Azure. Notably, as the NBA league was put on indefinite hiatus on March 11, and fans were forced to stay at home due the coronavirus pandemic, it is expected that there will be a greater demand for videos of older matches and other online content offerings like game and player statistics.
Markedly, NBA is one of the most popular basketball associations in the world with around 1.8 billion social media followers worldwide.
The latest deal is therefore a major win for Microsoft and favors its growth prospects over the longer haul. It is also likely to instill investors’ confidence in the stock. Notably, shares of Microsoft have returned 12.3% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s rise of 2.9%.
The NBA deal win reflects on growing traction of the company’s solutions among sporting organizations despite coronavirus-led cancellation of major sports events. Recently, the company expanded its partnership with National Football League (NFL) to continue providing them with Surface tablets as well as access to its communication platform — Microsoft Teams.
Moreover, Spanish football giant Real Madrid has partnered with Microsoft to drive its digital transformation journey. The club will leverage the latter’s cloud and AI capabilities to analyze its interaction with fans and customize its marketing campaigns accordingly.
The company has been doing well on the esports front as well, with tournament organizer, Torque Esports selecting Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios to operate and broadcast the Gears 5 Esports Challenger Series Finals.
These client wins are expected to drive the company’s top-line growth over the long haul and strengthen its competitive position in traditional sports as well esports space.
Sports Tech Partnerships on the Rise
Microsoft’s deal with NBA highlights a growing trend of tech stalwarts partnering with major sports associations and teams to drive digital overhaul of the sports industry.
Notably, IBM (IBM - Free Report) has partnered with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to digitally support the US Open. The company’s AI and cloud computing capabilities are being utilized to enhance fan experience, generate game insights and strengthen security for the events.
Moreover, Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) cloud computing arm — Amazon Web Services (AWS) — teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to improve player safety and generate deeper insights into player injuries by leveraging AWS’ AI and cloud capabilities.
Further, Intel (INTC - Free Report) is collaborating with sporting leagues like LaLiga and Major League Baseball (MLB) as well as clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea to create immersive online experiences for fans on the back of its strength in high-performance computing and VR.
Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.
Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.
Image: Bigstock
Microsoft (MSFT) Partners With NBA to Enhance Fan Experience
Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) recently announced that it has inked a deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to become the official AI, Cloud and laptop partner for the NBA as well as the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), NBA G League and USA Basketball starting from the 2020-21 season.
Under the terms of the deal, the company will develop a direct-to-consumer platform on Microsoft Azure, which will utilize AI and machine learning (ML) to enhance the online experience of NBA fans. Additionally, fans, officials and coaches will be able to get unique insights about the game.
Further, the platform will deliver NBA’s historical video archive to the fans along with live and on-demand game broadcasts through Microsoft Azure. Notably, as the NBA league was put on indefinite hiatus on March 11, and fans were forced to stay at home due the coronavirus pandemic, it is expected that there will be a greater demand for videos of older matches and other online content offerings like game and player statistics.
Markedly, NBA is one of the most popular basketball associations in the world with around 1.8 billion social media followers worldwide.
The latest deal is therefore a major win for Microsoft and favors its growth prospects over the longer haul. It is also likely to instill investors’ confidence in the stock. Notably, shares of Microsoft have returned 12.3% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s rise of 2.9%.
Microsoft Corporation Price and Consensus
Microsoft Corporation price-consensus-chart | Microsoft Corporation Quote
Sports Deals to Drive Long-Term Growth
The NBA deal win reflects on growing traction of the company’s solutions among sporting organizations despite coronavirus-led cancellation of major sports events. Recently, the company expanded its partnership with National Football League (NFL) to continue providing them with Surface tablets as well as access to its communication platform — Microsoft Teams.
Moreover, Spanish football giant Real Madrid has partnered with Microsoft to drive its digital transformation journey. The club will leverage the latter’s cloud and AI capabilities to analyze its interaction with fans and customize its marketing campaigns accordingly.
The company has been doing well on the esports front as well, with tournament organizer, Torque Esports selecting Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios to operate and broadcast the Gears 5 Esports Challenger Series Finals.
These client wins are expected to drive the company’s top-line growth over the long haul and strengthen its competitive position in traditional sports as well esports space.
Sports Tech Partnerships on the Rise
Microsoft’s deal with NBA highlights a growing trend of tech stalwarts partnering with major sports associations and teams to drive digital overhaul of the sports industry.
Notably, IBM (IBM - Free Report) has partnered with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to digitally support the US Open. The company’s AI and cloud computing capabilities are being utilized to enhance fan experience, generate game insights and strengthen security for the events.
Moreover, Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) cloud computing arm — Amazon Web Services (AWS) — teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to improve player safety and generate deeper insights into player injuries by leveraging AWS’ AI and cloud capabilities.
Further, Intel (INTC - Free Report) is collaborating with sporting leagues like LaLiga and Major League Baseball (MLB) as well as clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea to create immersive online experiences for fans on the back of its strength in high-performance computing and VR.
Zacks Rank
Microsoft currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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