Fubo to launch team-level personalized game alerts around NBA playoffs

There’s been an incredible amount of discussion around sports feed personalization lately. A notable and tangible move there comes from virtual multichannel programming distributor Fubo. Starting with the NBA playoffs this week, Fubo is distributing game alerts to opted-in subscribers in real time based on their past viewership and location.

There have been game alerts before this from Fubo and other companies. But, for streaming TV companies in particular, those have generally been league-based rather than team-based. Fubo’s new approach drills down to the team level, with their push alerts focused on individual teams and including key moments such as player milestones and teams within two points of taking or losing a lead.

Those alerts can be clicked to go directly to the game. Here are some examples of what that can look like:

While Fubo is beginning this with the NBA, they’re planning to expand it to other leagues shortly. They see this as part of a wider sports personalization focus at the company, including with live game scores on a home screen (which, as with these game alerts, spoiler-adverse users can turn off) and with user-configured multiview (currently available on Roku and Apple TV devices).

Of course, there are many questions ahead for Fubo. That service is trying to find ways to stand out, especially after ESPN parent Disney’s January acquisition of the service. But sports personalization is perhaps a particularly notable way to stand out now that they’re in the same Disney portfolio as Hulu+Live TV. And it’s significant to see them taking an approach based not just on geographical location, but also past viewership, as there are many people in any given team’s area who don’t particularly follow that team.

It’s also interesting to see Fubo further tap into the personalization discussion. That’s been a key talking point for many in the sports space lately. We’ll see how this move to add team-level alerts plays out for them, and what other leagues they expand it to.