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The Technology Behind the NBA Finals

Posted by Soulskill on from the invalid-three-pointer dept.

BobB-nw brings us NetworkWorld's behind-the-scenes look at the technology supporting the NBA Finals. They primarily use Lenovo ThinkPads which run an automated statistic-gathering system. The NBA eschews Wi-Fi due to security concerns, and it abandoned attempts to use touch-screen technology because of durability and ease-of-use issues. Whether or not basketball is your sport of choice, it's an interesting view of how modern sports presentations come together. "Other courtside systems with proprietary software synch up with compact belt packs worn by the referees, who automate clock stoppages by blowing their whistles. Hellmuth noted that he oversaw an effort to ensure that clock stoppages could be seen from any angle in the arena by having lights on the backboard and elsewhere all flash at once."

5 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Communication speeds by arnoldo.j.nunez · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The part that shocked me was:

    The laptops feed into a 100Mbps Ethernet network and send data back to a central NBA database via a T-1 so that updated information can be displayed at the NBA.com Web site, which broke its record this season by attracting more than a billion visitors (not unique) for the first time and that uses services such as those from Akamai to keep up with the demand.
    The majority of the text concerned itself with pure statistics, so insignificant amounts of data move around, but how about video clips that supplement the outliers in the data? Is that being sent over as well? If so, how does a puny little megabit Ethernet network fit? How will it scale in the future?
    1. Re:Communication speeds by drgruney · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Just to clarify.. he's talking about the satellites that providers use to get the content... not satellites like Dish and DirecTV. I wish more people knew about free over air satellite transmissions. Receivers are cheap.. like $100. The trick is setting up the dish right and being patient enough for the dish to aim each time you change the channel.

  2. Not really "automated" by compumike · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's just be clear here... while the article and summary are calling it "automated" stats collection, there's still very much a person in the loop at every data collection instant. That is, a human still has to indicate and record any sort of statistically-relevant event. All they've done is to make it so that can go instantly right into a digital form rather than onto a piece of paper.

    What would be cool is if the data collection were to be truly automated! Detect all sorts of things unobtrusively, whether through cameras, positioning systems for the ball or the players, etc.

    --
    Hey code monkey... learn electronics!

  3. NBA GamesStats by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I used to work for IDS (http://ids-sports.com), specifically writing and supporting the GameStats system and it is nice to see them mentioned for writing the system rather than IBM taking the credit.

    As for a truly automated system, there were rumors years ago about putting sensors in the floor, around the rim and backboard, and in the ball. Unfortunately, that is an expensive proposition and some people complained about sensors in the ball would be tampering.

  4. Seattle SuperSonics by despeaux · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I worked for the Seattle SuperSonics this year, and I can vouch for the amount of setup that goes into games. Even if the court doesn't need to be converted from a concert or something, crews arrive several hours before every game.

    It's worth it though. You get to play Horse before the fans arrive.