At the end of last month, over 250 attendees from the world of basketball tuned in to our webinar on how the Genius Sports and FIBA partnership is elevating the sport with the power of AI and the sports data revolution.
Genius Sports’ Matthew Cowling – Special Advisor for Sport, and FIBA’s Alex Igual – Sports and Technology Partnership Manager, laid out Genius and FIBA’s joint vision for the future of basketball, the role of technology in driving progress in sport, and looked back on the recent success of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025.
You can watch the full recording of the webinar here and below are the five key takeaways from the event.
1. Technology evolves but the FIBA & Genius mission remains the same
FIBA and Genius Sports have been partnered in the shared goal of developing and growing the game of basketball since 2004. As Cowling points out, “it began because FIBA wanted to empower its federations with technology.”
FIBA Organiser, a digital competition management system, was one of the first steps on that journey. Fast forward to 2009 and FIBA LiveStats was born, becoming the world’s premier data collection and distribution platform for basketball statistics. “It was a really important moment,” Cowling said. “FIBA became the first international sports federation to say, ‘we’re going to provide our membership with a piece of software that allows for the collection of data for our sport… and we’re essentially going to provide it free of charge.’”
Over 1.5 million games’ worth of box scores later, and FIBA LiveStats remains a fundamental part of the basketball ecosystem.
In 2023 the partnership took a new step, adding to the legacy of the previous 19 years to drive further innovation, built on machine learning and AI. “Our mission has always been to give federations the tools to grow the game,” added Igual. “All that’s changed today is the way that technology is shaping those tools.”
2. Basketball is ready to embrace AI-powered performance insights
When asked about the biggest challenges in relation to data and video, a poll conducted in the webinar revealed that performance analytics – namely the ability to receive post-game analysis and real-time insights effectively – was the most common answer, at 26%.
Genius Sports’ suite of performance analysis tools provide post-game analytics ready for download just minutes after the conclusion of a game. This is a complete game-changer for the way games are analysed by coaches and players alike.
“Almost everything a coach would want to see is available to them on the bus going home from the game,” Cowling pointed out. Gone are the days of trawling through hours of video footage to find a specific pick and roll or defensive play.
“That’s where AI and automation makes such a difference,” explained Igual, who shared his insights as a former player. “Having access to this data and video breakdown just minutes after the game. The speed of the delivery is just as valuable to coaches as the depth of the insights.”
3. The FIBA U19 World Cup was a triumph for a new type of fan engagement
During the U19 World Cup in July, FIBA and Genius Sports unveiled augmented, data-driven live streams of games for fans watching on YouTube. Real-time game insights including player names, shot probabilities and defender distances helped to create a more immersive experience for basketball fans worldwide.
“It was a way of demonstrating FIBA’s commitment to bringing accessible technology into the game,” Igual explains, discussing the solutions that underpinned the FIBA U19 World Cup.
The augmented broadcasts were powered by GeniusIQ, Genius Sports’ next-generation sports data and AI platform. “The real value was bridging performance and fan engagement,” explains Cowling.
Throughout the tournament, the augmented broadcasts offered fans the chance to engage with the sport through a new form of data-driven visual storytelling. 75% of fans surveyed at the U19 World Cup agreed that it enhanced the viewing experience – delivering the sort of interactivity that is now expected from the modern sports fan.
“They [sports fans] want a type of storytelling that helps them understand more deeply what is happening on the court in real-time,” affirmed Igual.
4. Democratising best-in-class technology
“We’re enthusiastic about democratising this technology,” said Cowling.
Just as FIBA LiveStats became an integral part of the basketball ecosystem, the introduction of AI-powered tools and applications, via GeniusIQ, has been – and will continue to be – a totally collaborative process between federations and leagues.
According to the live poll, 21%said that efficiency and resources – in particular the time and money spent on manual data collection, processing and distribution – was their biggest challenge.
Automating those painstaking manual processes is the first step on the journey to realising the full scope of GeniusIQ’s capabilities, and both Genius Sports and FIBA work hard to ensure that the journey of every federation is bespoke and scalable.
5. Officiating will eventually be empowered by AI, not replaced by it
A number of audience questions centred around the use of AI to assist with officiating calls. As video assistant refereeing becomes more and more prevalent in other sports, basketball is ready to follow suit. But in a measured way.
“The goal isn’t to take the human element out of the game,” Igual said, “but rather to give referees better tools to do their job efficiently and effectively.”
By recreating what happened on the court in 3D, everything from positioning, movement and player decision making can be analysed with the help of AI.
“The ability for GeniusIQ to prompt video operators with the best possible angles, within seconds of the break in play, is how we arrive at the correct decisions, faster,” said Cowling.
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If you’d like to know more about the relationship between FIBA and Genius Sports, the successes of the U19 World Cup, or the use of AI and data in growing the game of basketball, please get in touch here.
