MANILA - Australian technology and digital media is set to play a major role in the continued development of basketball in the Philippines.

Widely recognised as one of the most passionate countries when it comes to the love of the sport because of its popularity and both the amateur and professional level, Filipino fans are now set to benefit from some exciting initiatives.

It has been revealed that SportingPulse have signed agreements with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) which is the oldest professional basketball league in Asia and also the national basketball federation, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to help achieve improvements in relation to their respective statistical and digital platforms.

The PBA will now be switching to the use of a FIBA Live Stats package to record basketball game statistics and to webcast games in real time - this will also ensure that fans can follow games not only live on their PC, but also their preferred mobile device.

Meanwhile, SBP will use the entire suite of digital tools developed by SportingPulse to help basketball administrators more effectively manage issues such as registration, membership, competitions and live-scoring.

SportingPulse will also design and develop a new website for the federation.

SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios said: "There has never been a more exciting time for basketball in the Philippines with our men's national team, Gilas Pilipinas, competing later this year at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, for the first time in 38 years.

"This partnership with SportingPulse will help us build a common digital infrastructure and national standards to support the growth and development at grassroots and ensure we are in a strong position to qualify for future World Cups."

PBA Commissioner Chito Salud was equally positive about the new working arrangement.

He declared: "We are delighted to partner with SportingPulse and provide all fans of the PBA worldwide with a great live fan experience.

"SportingPulse can help our league gain further international exposure through providing outstanding experience for fans.

"We are very happy that our fans will be able to follow our games live on mobile as well as PC."

Meanwhile, Nick Maywald, CEO and founder of SportingPulse added: "I was lucky enough to be at the FIBA Asia Championship in Manila last year on that unforgettable night when the Philippine national team qualified for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup after a Semi-Final win over Korea.

"I realised then how important basketball is to the people here.

"We're very proud that our award-winning software will play an important role in shaping the future of basketball in the Philippines."

FIBA