Can the NBA improve using Azure?
At first glance and out of context, it might sound strange that a cloud service could enhance a basketball league. But the arrival of Big Data has revolutionized the sports industry to such an extent that today, competing at a high level is nearly impossible without data-driven analysis. Beyond the court, the world’s most popular basketball league has adopted Microsoft Azure’s cloud platform to grow as a content and operations platform for its users, with several standout use cases:
Microsoft Teams as a Virtual Crowd During the “Bubble”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, professional sports came to a halt for months. The NBA’s solution to complete its season was to host games inside a “bubble” (a tightly controlled environment) in Disney Orlando to avoid outbreaks. While games could be played, fans couldn’t be present. This is where Microsoft Teams came in — helping simulate the presence of fans by displaying live video feeds of spectators on virtual stands, recreating the in-arena atmosphere as much as possible.
Video Analysis for Referees
Technology isn’t just helping referees make more accurate calls — it’s also helping them learn and improve. The NBA developed an internal app called REPS (Referee Engagement and Performance System), which enables officials to study games, review decisions, and refine their performance. Looking ahead, the NBA is even exploring automated officiating systems, similar to Hawk-Eye in tennis.
Apps for NBA Employees
Roughly 1,800 NBA employees now have access to an internal mobile-first app that enables seamless authentication through single sign-on and centralizes essential resources. This tool supports not just ticketing but also day-to-day operations across the league and its franchises, increasing productivity and reducing friction.
NBA’s Revamped Official App
The NBA’s app, which provides access to live games, stats, news, and highlights, has undergone a full transformation. The goal? Deliver better performance and user experience. Behind the scenes, the league leveraged a stack of Azure services, including Azure App Service, Azure Spring Apps, Azure SQL Database Hyperscale and Azure Cosmos DB. The app redesign also followed best practices for application and database modernization, which you can learn more about in this link.
What’s Next
What’s coming in the future? You can see it here:
Microsoft Azure is playing a critical role in modernizing the NBA — not only in data processing and content delivery but also in operations, employee engagement, and fan interaction. From courtside to cloud, it’s a game-changer.