WNBA Partners With Genius Sports To Implement Second Spectrum Tracking Data

In a groundbreaking move, extensive tracking data is making its way to the WNBA starting this coming season.

Today, the WNBA and Genius Sports announced a multi-year partnership, making Genius the optical tracking provider of the league. Genius' solution, Second Spectrum, is currently partnered with the NBA as well and is crucial in the league's ability to generate and apply data that isn't readily available in any other format.

“Technology continues to fundamentally change the sports landscape,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Deploying state-of-the-art optical tracking technology through Genius Sports will deliver rich data to our teams that they can leverage to enhance player performance while informing in-game strategy and enable a new wave of insights and media elements for fans.”

The optical tracking will be engineered and ready in all 12 WNBA arenas for the 2024 season.

This is a monumental step for the league, the first women's professional sports league in the US to implement 3D tracking data.

Sports data and analytics at large have long been a step behind male counterparts, a significant part of the gender gap in how money and manpower are (or aren't) invested. This will go a long way towards equalizing data, applied analytics, and advanced statistics across the league in front offices and amongst coaching staffs.

"It is really exciting that our league is adopting this type of technology," said New York Liberty General Manager Jonathan Kolb. "The system capabilities are far more comprehensive than anything before seen in the WNBA and will greatly enhance strategic planning across the league.”

For the first time, WNBA teams will have access to real-time advanced statistics measuring shot quality, shooter impact, paint touches, play-type efficiencies, points per chance, contest quality, and other defensive matchup data as well as metrics quantifying player performance such as maximum speeds and total distance covered.

This opens up a wide range of applications in media, in analysis, and in sports science.

All official tracking data will be integrated into Genius’ basketball insights and analytics engine.