I have a hard time believing this, but from everything I've read from Stat Crew Next Generation, Stat Crew Legacy and Stat Crew Next Generation are not fully compatible.

According to the Stat Crew Next Generation manual, the program does not import packed files, and it exports only a limited packed file, one without play by play data. So if you are a Legacy user, here is what we recommend you do in advance:

For your home games: You'll need to find out which SIDs are using Next Generation because they will not be able to use the packed file you're used to emailing your opponent SID.  You'll have to email them an XML file instead.

For your away games: You'll need to find out which are using Next Generation and tell them that you need not only the partial packed file, but also the XML so that you can send this to your website provider.

In either case, the away team is going to end up with data that is somewhat incomplete, forcing them to email the home SID if changes need to be made to the stats.

What is going on?

10 Foot Wave, the company CBS contracted to build Stat Crew Next Generation, is trying to create a new document format standard for statistics.  This is a regular concept in software development.  Microsoft Word now saves files as .docx instead of .doc, HTML 5 has come out to fix things in HTML 4, and any software that has been around for years goes through this.

They have good reason to. The packed file is an old "binary" format that is not easy to change and improve.  Newer formats like XML or JSON let you add additional information to your document format.  This is exactly what Microsoft did six years ago, as .docx is actually an XML file format instead of the old "binary" format of a .doc.  10 Foot Wave is looking to make the XML report give you all the editability of the packed file, turning it from a simple report format to the file you exchange with your opponent during your post-game workflow.

However, it is odd that they dropped support for the old document format.  Microsoft Word opens and saves both the new .docx format and the old .doc format.  Internet Explorer 9 still opens HTML 4 web pages.  This isn't exactly something you need to spend a decade building software at IBM to figure out.  Document evolution is a gradual process where you have to provide maximum compatibility.

So for now, Stat Crew Next Generation will not open the packed file that Stat Crew Legacy standardized, and Next Generation does not export this defacto format to let you share data the way you used to.

Maximize compatility with PrestoSports

With PrestoSports Stats, we are committed to maximum compatibility. We already have 100% compatibility with Stat Crew Legacy, and we're looking to fully support Stat Crew Next Generation's new document format as well.

What this means is that once we're finished with our Next Generation XML importer, you'll be able to upload a Next Generation XML report into the PrestoSports Network, and download a packed file for Stat Crew Legacy.  Conversely, you will be able to upload a packed file out of Stat Crew Legacy into our Network and your opponent can download a Next Generation XML format.

Once we receive the Stat Crew Next Generation software (we need it both for this and to make sure our customers using it can use our live stats service) and can see how they've changed the XML, we'll look to be the only stats provider to bridge the compatibility gap between Stat Crew Legacy and Stat Crew Next Generation.

Of course, if you're using PrestoSports Stats, you'll be able to download a packed file or XML into your or your opponent's copy of Stat Crew, regardless of which version is being used.