NBL Group and Komo Announce Multi-Year Strategic Partnership to Transform Basketball Fan Engagement

The NBL Group has announced a partnership with Australian fan engagement and data platform Komo, spanning both the National Basketball League and the Women’s National Basketball League.

Selected following a competitive evaluation process, Komo’s technology will integrate natively across the leagues’ existing digital platforms ahead of the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 season and the upcoming WNBL 2026-27 season kicking off in October.

The alliance is designed to capture zero- and first-party data, unify fan profiles, and unlock valuable new digital inventory for commercial partners.

Commenting on the partnership, Komo CEO and Co-Founder, Joel Steel, said: “You can’t buy knowledge of an audience – someone has to choose to tell you. Participation is how they choose: something worth a minute of their time before tip-off, on the way home from the arena, and in the middle of July when there’s no basketball anywhere in sight.”

“Small acts, freely given, and repeated. Any one of them tells you more than a sign-up form. A year of them tells you who someone is and what matters to them.

“What the NBL Group wanted wasn’t another tool. Most of those tools organise what you already know, rather than creating the knowing.

“They wanted one system underneath all of it – running the participation, holding what it produces, and feeding the platforms they already run.

“Fans take part, the leagues learn who they are, and what they learn makes the next season better for fans and worth more to partners. It compounds from there,” Steel said.

Emphasising the importance of scaling engagement infrastructure alongside growth, NBL group executive general manager of marketing, Ben Jenkins, added: “The NBL is in the middle of the biggest growth we’ve seen, and that’s down to the fanbase that continues to build right alongside us.”

“Komo gives us one connected way to understand our fans across the NBL and WNBL, and to continue the strong foundations we’ve already put in place.

“As our leagues grow, our thinking on how we engage fans has to grow with them, and this partnership is about backing that evolution for the seasons ahead.

“I want to thank Joel and the team for their work and enthusiasm for our league’s successes,” Jenkins stated.

Operating amidst surging fan attendance and broadcast viewership, the partnership provides a single connected system to track fan participation across arenas, broadcasts, and mobile apps.

Rather than directing audiences to external sites, the integration ensures traffic remains within the leagues’ ecosystems while building comprehensive consumer profiles. In addition, the platform enables the rapid creation of sophisticated sponsor activations and measurable digital inventory without complex development work.

Don’t miss out on the latest in sports business – Subscribe today to the free Ministry of Sport newsletter and stay ahead of the game. For even more exclusive insights, event tickets, professional development and networking events, become a MoS Member today!.