Skip to main content

NBA's new deal means more highlight videos for international fans

The NBA has 100 international players from 37 different countries, but its new dream is to make everything feel local. To help fans see all of their favorite players every night, the NBA is working with WSC Sports Technologies to analyze games as they’re happening and create customized highlight reels for individual players (or other criteria) almost instantly.

Aviv Arnon, WSC’s head of business development, spoke with Digital Trends about the Automatic Video Generator (AVGEN) technology, which automatically performs video, audio, and statistical analysis of near real-time live footage, indexing and ranking each play for later usage and highlight packages.

Recommended Videos

It works by listening to the audio waves from the game to determine if a particular play elicited an energized crowd response, beat the buzzer, resulted in a timely foul, or has any other triggers that indicate excitement. So, if Golden State Warriors starting point guard (and reigning MVP) Steph Curry scores 40 points, but a seemingly simple layup capped off a 15-0 game-ending run, AVGEN would determine the layup came during that run by the statistics. Then, by analyzing crowd reaction, it would rank it higher than a spectacular three-pointer that happened during a less pivotal point in the game.

AVGEN User Interface Image used with permission by copyright holder

The technology also lets the NBA set up “rules,” or parameters for the system to select specified plays from certain players. Pre-setting all Golden State Warrior games to “Steph Curry three-pointers” will generate a daily video montage of him averaging more than five three-pointers each game. NBA reps inform Digital Trends that, without this new technology, the league would not have the resources to manually create personalized highlight packages for its growing fan base.

The partnership has already shown to be prolific. The NBA has 600 rules set, and 20,000 highlight packages were generated in the first six weeks of the season. From just the eight games played on November 30, 593 videos were generated. A highlight package of San Antonio Spur starting point guard  Tony Parker’s six-point performance against the Boston Celtics on November 1 had more views in France than Steph Curry’s 53-point performance against the New Orleans Pelicans the day before, which is still a record for points in a game this season.

AVGEN is showing that the best player is not always the most popular when your fan base encompasses a large portion of the world.

20,000 highlight packages were generated in the first six weeks of the season.

Currently, 18 NBA teams use the technology, and the majority of highlight packages from the NBA’s Developmental League and WNBA uses WSC’s technology. Highlight packages generated by AVGEN are then sent out to the NBA’s broadcasting affiliates from across the globe. While the technology is only used as a means for the NBA to provide more video content to its fans, reps from the league hint that a future where fans can use the tool to create customize searches themselves is a possibility.

 NBA Senior Vice President, Digital Media Melissa Brenner told Digital Trends we should not expect so much specialized NBA video content that live viewing becomes unnecessary.

“We don’t want to cannibalize the actual viewing of the games or people going to the game,” she said. The NBA also asserts the partnership with WSC will not affect the league’s relationship with Turner Sports, which manages the NBA’s digital assets and recently helped broadcast the first live NBA game in virtual reality.

Keith Nelson Jr.
Former Staff Writer, Entertainment
Keith Nelson Jr is a music/tech journalist making big pictures by connecting dots. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY he…
GlassesUSA Black Friday Sale: Get 30% off prescription glasses
GlassesUSA frames close up with multiple styles.

Need a new pair of glasses? Want to stock up for your holiday trips before you head to meet up with your relatives? Typically, you'd have to wait until the official Black Friday event, the day after Thanksgiving, or maybe even Cyber Monday, but that's not the case this year. Alongside a variety of the best online glasses deals, GlassesUSA is hosting a huge Black Friday sale early, allowing you to save big on prescription glasses and frames with no waiting necessary. Of course, we always recommend browsing the sale of your own accord to see what's discounted because we couldn't possibly cover everything, nor could we know precisely what you're looking for. That said, we've called out quite a few of the best deals below.

What to shop in the early GlassesUSA Black Friday sale
Rightfully dubbed the Black Friday Early Bird sale, now's an excellent time to save up to 30% on prescription glasses. Moreover, GlassesUSA is truly dedicated to helping you find the perfect pair. Not only are there a ton of brands and styles to choose from, but you'll benefit from free shipping and returns and a money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied. You can even take to find the correct pair for your face. Ray-Ban, Oakley, DKNY, Prada, Ottoto, Muse, they are all here and available to shop, most discounted even. Men's and Women's eyewear are on sale, too, so there's something for everyone.

Read more
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deals you can shop now
Daughter gifting Ancestry Gift Membership to family

DNA tests are awesome holiday gifts for your family. Together you can all build your family tree and discover your genetic makeup. Unfortunately the tests are pretty expensive, but at least you only need to test once. There are some nice Black Friday deals going on today that will save you a significant amount of money on single tests or bundles. Check out our favorite below, then more more deals worth checking out under that.
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deal
AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit -- $59, was $99

The single person AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit is our pick for the best Black Friday deal already available. The kit normally costs $99, but right now it's down to just $59. That's a nice discount of $30 on one of the best DNA tests available. We're not sure how long this deal will last, so you should grab it soon.

Read more
The 5 best DNA test kits for 2024
We spit in a ton of test tubes to find the best and most unique DNA tests
A 23andme DNA kit.

Despite the fact that tons of competitors have sprung up in recent years, 23AndMe still makes the best DNA test on the market. It's the quickest, it's very comprehensive, and the way the company presents your genetic data is simple and easy to digest. However, depending on what kind of information you're looking for, there are other, more specialized DNA tests that might be better suited for you. Whether it's ancestry, fitness, disease risk, or something else entirely, there's likely a DNA kit that'll uncover that data.

With the rising popularity of these tests, we decided to take a closer look and see which ones are worth the investment. To do this, we secured a mail-in kit from as many DNA testing services as we could find, then shipped them a spit tube full of our precious genetic code for analysis. After looking through all the data and personally trying all of these services, there were a few that stood out from the pack. Here are our favorites:
The best DNA test kit in 2024

Read more