How VBTV turned complex sports data into a story fans can feel

When Volleyball World set out to relaunch VBTV, the ambition went beyond a visual refresh. Data needed to play a central role in how fans experienced the sport. Not as static statistics, but as live context, insight and narrative that enhanced every moment of the match.

To deliver this vision, Volleyball World partnered with Spicy Mango and implemented Gameday, a modern sports data platform designed to consolidate, enrich and deliver complex data at scale. The result is a flexible sports data solution that powers real-time storytelling, dynamic sports overlays and deeper fan engagement across web, mobile and OTT environments.

The challenge: data-rich sport, fragmented delivery

VBTV serves a global audience across multiple platforms, each requiring fast, accurate and contextual data. Match, player and competition data arrived from several providers, creating challenges around consistency, identity resolution and real-time delivery.

Traditional CMS tools could manage pages and media assets, but they were not designed to support live sport. They could not model the relationships between rallies, sets, players and tournaments, nor could they support data-driven sports overlays or real-time editorialisation without heavy engineering effort.

As a result:

• Engineering teams were tied up maintaining bespoke data integrations

• Editorial teams had limited control over how data was shaped and presented

• Product teams struggled to move quickly without increasing technical complexity

Volleyball World needed a single sports data platform that could simplify data management while enabling richer fan experiences.

The solution: Gameday sports data platform at the core of VBTV

Spicy Mango deployed Gameday as the core sports data solution within the VBTV ecosystem. Gameday ingests data from multiple sources, resolves identities, aligns schemas and exposes clean, presentation-ready outputs via low-latency APIs and web socket streams.

This unified foundation supports everything from live match pages and historical analysis to dynamic sports overlaysused across web, mobile and connected TV. Crucially, Gameday also provides editorial tooling that allows non-technical teams to enrich and curate data without relying on developers.

The principle was straightforward: manage data once, distribute it everywhere, and use it to strengthen fan engagement at every touchpoint.

“We are proud to support Volleyball World in their mission to grow the game globally. With Gameday, they can deliver beautiful, data-driven experiences across web and OTT that keep fans engaged and coming back for more.”
Ben Davison, Director of Commercial Development, Spicy Mango

Powering sports overlays and real-time storytelling

At the heart of VBTV’s new experience is the ability to turn live data into intuitive, meaningful sports overlays. Gameday transforms raw feeds into contextual insights that enhance the viewing experience without overwhelming the fan.

Live statistics, player impact metrics and historical comparisons are surfaced through overlays that update in real time. These overlays are consistent across platforms, ensuring that fans receive the same story whether they are watching on mobile, desktop or connected TV.

By using Gameday as a central sports data solution, Volleyball World ensured that sports overlays are accurate, synchronised and editorially driven rather than hard-coded into individual applications.

A fan engagement solution built for editorial control

Gameday functions not only as a data layer, but as a fan engagement solution. Editorial teams can shape how data appears by adding context, highlighting narratives and linking moments across matches and competitions.

This closes a critical gap left by traditional CMS platforms. Editors can spotlight emerging players, pin decisive moments, build tournament collections and surface tactical insights with minimal effort. No sprint planning. No custom development. The editorial voice stays in control while the platform manages complexity.

Operational efficiency at global scale

Centralising data through a single sports data solution delivered immediate operational benefits. Engineering teams no longer needed to manage multiple data pipelines or build custom integrations for each new feature.

With ingestion, enrichment and delivery handled by Gameday:

• Time to market improved across product and editorial initiatives

• Data quality increased through consistent validation and augmentation

• Infrastructure costs reduced through real-time processing and intelligent caching

Low-latency web socket outputs also enabled millisecond-precision delivery, supporting live sports overlays and in-play experiences for a worldwide audience.

A more immersive experience for fans

The relaunched VBTV experience now feels more responsive, informative and engaging. Fans receive context before, during and after matches, allowing them to follow the narrative of the sport as it unfolds.

Pre-match experiences frame key storylines. In-match overlays highlight momentum shifts and performance trends. Post-match views extend the narrative through form lines, comparisons and insights tailored to modern viewing habits.

The result is a cohesive fan engagement solution that enhances understanding and keeps audiences connected for longer.

"Spicy Mango has been instrumental in taking VBTV to the next level. Rather than simply delivering to a brief, they took the time to understand Volleyball World’s ambitions and the future of our digital ecosystem. Their team brought innovative thinking, technical expertise, and a truly collaborative spirit to deliver richer data and interactive features that give fans a more immersive way to experience the sport they love. It’s an important step in our commitment to building a world-class digital ecosystem for volleyball."

Stéphanie Giardina, Chief Revenue Officer, Volleyball World

Results that matter to rights holders

For Volleyball World, the value of Gameday as a sports data solution is clear:

• Complex, multi-source data is unified and presented consistently

• Editorial teams can enrich and control data-driven experiences

• Product teams benefit from faster delivery and lower technical overhead

With data complexity removed from the application layer, VBTV is well positioned to support new formats, commercial opportunities and future innovation in sports overlays and fan engagement.About Gameday

Gameday is Spicy Mango’s SaaS platform for sports data management and enrichment. It transforms fragmented data feeds into presentation-ready, low-latency experiences delivered at global scale. Rights holders use Gameday to standardise data once, power every channel and give editorial teams the tools to tell stronger, more engaging stories.