The AI chatbot that engaged 73,000 FIBA World Cup fans in 5 languages — in 2 weeks
73,000 fans engaged in 2 weeks. 71.5% of interactions completed automatically. How Velocity AI built JIP — the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 multilingual AI chatbot operating in 5 languages.
The challenges
FIBA aimed to give their mascot a voice and enable real-time fan interactions in 5 languages.
They needed a conversational AI agent capable of delivering fast and accurate FIBA World Cup information.
The goal was to improve fan experience by making tournament details easily accessible.
They wanted the agent to reach and engage as many users as possible through notifications.
Key updates included real-time news such as MVP announcements and favourite team progress after each match.
Our solution
Meet JIP — a basketball robot named by the initials of its co-hosting nations: Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. JIP's mission is to foster global unity, bringing people together under the banner of basketball.
How does JIP handle multiple languages?
JIP is built on a GPT-4 foundation, enabling it to communicate fluently across five languages: English, Japanese, Indonesian, French, and Spanish. Fans select their preferred language at the start of the conversation — and JIP responds in kind throughout, with no drop in accuracy.
How does JIP deliver real-time tournament data?
JIP is integrated directly with FIBA's API, pulling live data on match schedules, scores, team and player standings, and venue information within seconds. During the tournament, this data updated continuously after every match.
What kinds of questions can JIP answer?
JIP handles a wide range of natural language questions about the Basketball World Cup — tournament history, team and player profiles, group standings, match results, and MVP announcements. The GPT-4 foundation enables JIP to understand intent, not just keywords.
How does JIP handle high concurrent user volume?
JIP was architected to manage multiple concurrent user sessions simultaneously — maintaining performance and response accuracy throughout the tournament's peak periods without degradation.
Can FIBA update JIP without developer involvement?
Yes. The agent was built to allow content updates and functionality changes without code changes. Velocity provided ongoing support throughout the project and delivered analytics enabling FIBA to identify the most popular topics fans asked about.
The results
73,000+ fans engaged
JIP engaged over 73,000 basketball fans within the first two weeks of the tournament — making it one of the highest-volume sports AI chatbot deployments of 2023.
71.5% completion rate
71.5% of all fan interactions were fully resolved by JIP using natural language understanding — without requiring handoff to a human agent.
5 languages
JIP handled fan conversations in English, Japanese, Indonesian, French, and Spanish — covering the full geographic footprint of the Basketball World Cup co-hosts.
Real-time tournament data
Live match scores, standings, venue information, and MVP announcements were delivered by JIP within seconds of each update via the FIBA API integration.
Promotions and lead generation
JIP supported FIBA promotions and subscription drives during the tournament — converting fan engagement into measurable marketing outcomes.
Velocity's proactive approach to addressing potential issues and their responsiveness to our feedback demonstrated their dedication to ensuring a smooth project journey. We were genuinely impressed by Velocity's project management expertise and their dedication to ensuring our satisfaction with project delivery.
Digital Product Manager @FIBAVelocity AI Services Used
