The NBA and Fastbreak.ai agree to multi-year partnership for the use of Fastbreak.ai's scheduling platform

News provided by

Jan 17, 2024, 09:00 ET

NBA Equity joined Fastbreak.ai's $5.2 MM Seed Financing Round last year

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastbreak.ai is excited to announce the NBA as their latest customer and NBA Equity as a seed round investor as part of a long-term agreement. The NBA will incorporate Fastbreak.ai's cutting-edge Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) solution into their scheduling process. As part of this agreement the NBA will also leverage Fastbreak.ai for scheduling the WNBA, G League, and the NBA2K League.

"The NBA is excited to collaborate with Fastbreak.ai to integrate state-of-the-art technology solutions into one of sport's most complex processes – the league schedule," said Evan Wasch, Executive Vice President of Basketball Strategy & Analytics, NBA. "The partnership reflects our belief in the company and our shared commitment to fostering innovation."

John Stewart, CEO of Fastbreak.ai, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, "This partnership with the NBA marks a significant step forward in applying advanced technologies to sports scheduling. We are committed to not just redefining the scheduling experience but also simplifying and democratizing the scheduling process. The NBA has always been a leader in innovative technology use, and we are pleased they selected Fastbreak to bring our AI-driven, enterprise innovation to their scheduling." The NBA joins a growing list of professional and college leagues, that includes the NHL, Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big East, and Major League Pickleball, utilizing the Fastbreak.ai for league scheduling.

According to Fastbreak Chief Product Officer, Dr. Chris Groer, "Fastbreak.ai's platform combines decades of experience in scheduling optimization with a powerful user interface to analyze everything from travel to game density to television viewership. The NBA schedule is one of the most complex scheduling puzzles in the world as the league must balance travel, home/away patterns, and competitive fairness across many metrics while also accounting for dynamically changing venue availability and now a new In-Season Tournament. The Fastbreak system allows the user to change and optimize the schedule in near real time, and our schedule visualization tool allows the user to modify and repair the schedule based on nearly any kind of constraint that arises. We are thrilled with our NBA partnership and look forward to bringing our platform to organizations of all sizes, from other professional leagues all the way down to the smallest youth and recreational leagues."

As part of the partnership, NBA Equity joins Fastbreak.ai's seed round as a strategic investor. Earlier last year, Fastbreak closed a $5.2 million seed financing round led by Greycroft, with investments from The Charlotte Fund and professional athletes including Greg Olsen, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Gordon Hayward, Luke Kuechly, Whit Merrifield, Kelvin Beachum, Kurt Kitayama, and Alison Lee.

About Fastbreak.ai

Fastbreak.ai is a leading sports technology company specializing in using advanced optimization research and artificial intelligence solutions for league scheduling. Founded by serial software entrepreneur John Stewart, Dr. Chris Groer, and Dr. Tim Carnes, the Fastbreak.ai scheduling platform specializes in providing advanced solutions tailored to the dynamic needs of the sports industry. Fastbreak.ai's innovative AI-driven Software as a Service (SAAS) solutions are revolutionizing how sports leagues plan and manage their schedules.

SOURCE Fastbreak.ai