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

When Volleyball World asked us to help relaunch VBTV, the brief was bold. Make data a core part of the product. Not as tables hidden away in a stats tab, but as the heartbeat of the fan experience. We brought Gameday, our sports data management and enrichment platform, into the stack and set out to turn numbers into narrative.

The starting point

VBTV already had strong live coverage and a global audience. What it needed was a way to take fragmented, multi-source data and present it as a single, fan-ready story across web and app. Traditional CMS tools could publish articles, videos and images. They could not model live match relationships, unify feeds or let editors shape data stories in real time. Engineering time was being absorbed by feed wrangling and bespoke integrations, slowing the roadmap.

The approach

We integrated Gameday at the core of VBTV. The platform ingests data from multiple providers, resolves identities, aligns schema and exposes low-latency APIs built for presentation. On top of this foundation sit editorial tools that let Volleyball World’s content team curate, tag and package the data without calling a developer. The aim was simple. Manage data once. Publish everywhere. And make every stat a doorway into a story.

“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

From raw feeds to real storytelling

Gameday pulls in live statistics and historical context, shaping raw data into statistical experiences that make sense to fans at a glance. Team and Player impact data points are are transformed to a narrative thread that runs through the digital experience.

This is where the real shift happened for Volleyball World. Data stopped being a utility and became content. Editors could lead with a storyline, then let Gameday populate the underlying numbers consistently across web, mobile and connected TV. The same truth, presented beautifully, wherever a fan meets the brand.

Bridging the CMS gap with enrichment

CMS platforms are built to manage pages. They are not designed to understand the relationships between rallies, sets, players and seasons. Gameday’s enrichment tools fill that gap. Editors can spotlight a rising star, pin key moments, assemble collection pages for tournaments and surface tactical insights with a few clicks. No sprint tickets. No custom code. The editorial voice stays in control while the platform does the heavy lifting.

Speed, efficiency and scale

Centralising data management delivered immediate operational gains. With ingestion, identity resolution and schema alignment handled by Gameday, engineering effort moved from plumbing to product. New features shipped faster because editorial could self-serve. Global delivery benefited from real time processing, smart caching and observability baked into the platform. That combination reduced data management overhead and cut the total cost of running large-scale infrastructure for a worldwide audience.

What changed for fans

The VBTV relaunch now feels more alive. Fans get context as the action unfolds, then can dive deeper when they choose. Pre-match build-up frames what to watch for. In-match views make turning points visible. Post-match pages carry the narrative forward with form lines, comparisons and highlights that suit the pace of modern viewing. It is the same sport, presented in a way that helps every fan see more.

"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 shows up in three ways. First, the organisation can finally surface complex, multi-source data in a clean, consistent and compelling way. Second, editorial enrichment closes the capability gap that CMS tools could not bridge. Third, the team benefits from faster time to market, lower overhead and a roadmap that moves at the speed of the audience. The platform is ready for new formats, commercial opportunities and partner integrations because the hard problems of data are already solved.

About Gameday

Gameday is our SaaS platform for sports data management and enrichment. It transforms fragmented feeds into presentation-ready experiences, delivered at low latency to a global audience. Rights holders use it to standardise data once, power every channel and give editors the tools to tell stronger stories.