The NBA is embracing the Artificial Intelligence era. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been collaborating with Fastbreak AI, a company specializing in optimizing sports scheduling, since 2023.
Now, the league has taken things a step further by joining the tech firm’s latest funding round, which aims to raise $40 million, according to Bloomberg.
As part of its search for investors, Fastbreak AI also secured backing from the National Hockey League (NHL) and former NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald Jr. and Luke Kuechly. Major League Soccer (MLS) and several college football conferences also work with the company, although they did not invest in this round.
Professional sports leagues are increasingly turning to AI tools to analyze player performance, assess injury risks, and enhance officiating through instant replay systems.
Many have forged partnerships with major tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and IBM.
The NBA first partnered with Fastbreak AI ahead of the 2023–2024 season to address a particularly complex scheduling challenge: creating matchups that counted both toward the new in-season tournament and the regular season.
“It was a really challenging optimization problem,” said Fastbreak AI CEO John Stewart.
“Our investment reflects our confidence in their ongoing innovation across the professional and youth sports ecosystem,” added David Lee, the NBA’s head of investment strategy.
With the new funding, Fastbreak AI plans to strengthen its sales and marketing operations, expand into the amateur sports sector — especially youth travel tournaments — and grow its engineering team.
In parallel with its AI investments, the NBA continues to pursue global expansion, with a renewed focus on Africa.
The league’s goal is to transform the Basketball Africa League (BAL) — currently a qualification-based competition similar to the EuroLeague — into a closed league with twelve permanent franchises.
This initiative would not only expand the NBA’s presence in the African market but also provide a more direct pathway for African players to reach the United States.
Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the process will begin soon, with the NBA planning to sell rights to operate the twelve teams and to build dedicated local arenas for each franchise.