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NBA’s Magic to boost fan experience with SAS

NBA basketball franchise the Orlando Magic has joined forces with analytics firm SAS as part of an effort to improve the experience of fans at its Amway Center.

The Magic said it plans to use SAS technology to better understand fans, enhance their enjoyment of both the game and the arena experience, as well as improve business operations.

The two parties have been working together for some time, but the new deal will extend this relationship, with the Magic to adopt the SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning on SAS Viya.

The partnership will also include social media campaigns featuring statistical graphics compiled by SAS, while the Magic will benefit from an in-depth look at player and team performance.

In addition, the agreement establishes SAS as the official data management and advanced analytics provider of the Magic.

Magic chief executive Alex Martins said: “Magic have seen tremendous growth in business performance as a result of using SAS tools to power our data analytics. We look forward to the benefits that this partnership can bring to our fans and the Magic both on and off the court.”

Jim Tobin of the SAS Sports Industry Practice added: “The Orlando Magic are among the most analytically-savvy professional sports organisations.

“SAS has been a part of their analytics program since the beginning, and we’re excited to help the organisation accelerate innovation with more advanced technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence that will drive further on and off-court innovations.”

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