Microsoft Corp. has scored another big win today after the National Basketball Association said it will adopt its Azure cloud to enhance online experiences for its fans.

In addition, NBA teams will use Microsoft Surface tablets in unspecified ways from the beginning of the league’s 2020-21 season, it was announced today.

Microsoft has become both an Official Artificial Intelligence Partner and an Official Cloud and Laptop Partner for the NBA, the parties said. The new service they plan to deliver will stream game broadcasts live and on-demand, offering a personalized fan experience that tailors the content for each user’s preferences. It will also reward user participation and provide more in-depth insights and analysis than ever before, Microsoft said.

“This partnership with Microsoft will help us redefine the way our fans experience NBA basketball,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “Our goal, working with Microsoft, is to create customized content that allows fans — whether they are in an NBA arena or watching from anywhere around the world — to immerse themselves in all aspects of the game and engage directly with our teams and players.”

The NBA and Microsoft said the upcoming platform will give fans new ways to watch and participate in games, notifying them if they miss any key moments, and enable them to view the action from different angles and with different audio feeds. It will also provide access to historical statistics in real time throughout the broadcasts.

We’re partnering with the @NBA to bring fans closer to the game and players they love with new personalized experiences powered by Azure and its AI capabilities. https://t.co/wILH9cfsiI

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) April 16, 2020

The current NBA season is suspended at this time, in line with social distancing measures imposed to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s not clear when the league might return to action, but when it does, there’s a good chance that games will be played behind closed doors for some period of time, experts say. If so, the NBA’s partnership with Microsoft could help it to keep fans more engaged even if they can’t attend the games in person.

“Modern technologies bring the spectator experience to the next level,” said Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller. “Microsoft’s partnership with the NBA is a great showcase for its clouds’ technical capabilities, and a great branding opportunity for Microsoft Azure services and its Surface products. Now, we just have to wait for the NBA to resume play.”

The deal sounds very similar to Microsoft’s partnership with the National Football Association. NFL coaches and staff are regularly seen using Surface tablets during games, and they also use Microsoft’s Teams collaboration tool. It’s not clear how the NBA teams will use the Surface tablets or Teams software at this stage.

Image: Microsoft