Endeavor Streaming
FormerlyNeuLion
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryStreaming media
Video on demand
PredecessorsNeuLion (founded 2004)
FoundersEndeavor Group in 2019
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
United States
Areas served
United States, international
Key people
Fred Santarpia (President)
BrandsThe Vesper Platform
ServicesStreaming and web services, business consulting
ParentEndeavor Group Holdings
Websitewww.endeavorstreaming.com

Endeavor Streaming is a multinational digital video broadcasting and technology company.[1] Based in New York City,[2][3][4][5] the company works with professional sports leagues and entertainment companies to distribute live and on-demand content.[1] It also offers various business services.[2]

Operating as a subsidiary of the American company Endeavor,[1][2] Endeavor Streaming was formed in January 2019[6] in part through the rebranding of NeuLion, which had been founded in 2004[7] and acquired by Endeavor in 2018.[1]

History

Predecessor companies

NeuLion, later Endeavor Streaming, was founded as a private technology company in 2004.[7] Headquartered in Plainview, New York,[8][9] among its co-founders were Charles Wang and Nancy Li.[7] NeuLion merged with streaming company JumpTV in 2008.[9] JumpTV Inc. changed its name to NeuLion, Inc. in 2009 and continued trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new name.[10] NeuLion then acquired Interactive Netcasting Systems, a Vancouver-based webcasting company, in November 2009,[11] followed by TransVideo International in October 2010.[12]

By 2015, various NeuLion customers included the National Football League (NFL),[13] Sky in New Zealand,[4] and the EFL, among others.[14] With competition in the sports streaming market increasing, NeuLion lost the NHL as a client in 2015 when the league moved its contract to BAMTech.[7] NeuLion acquired DivX, Inc. in 2015 for $62.5 million,[3] with former DivX CEO Kanaan Jemili becoming CEO of NeuLion.[3] The acquisition gave NeuLion access to DivX's 4K Ultra HD technology,[3] which NeuLion integrated into devices by companies such as LG,[15] Samsung,[16] and Sony.[17]

In 2016, the company partnered with the NBA,[18][19] UFC,[1][20] and Univision[21] on trial streams of 4K games,[22] with NeuLion's 2016 broadcast of UFC 205 becoming the first global pay-per-view event to be live streamed in 4K.[23] When NeuLion acquired Saffron Digital in June 2016, Roy Reichbach was named NeuLion's President and CEO.[24] In March 2018, NeuLion agreed to be acquired by Endeavor for USD$250 million, with NeuLion to become a privately held subsidiary.[1] As part of the deal NeuLion retained 550 employees, including 125 at its Long Island headquarters[7] it had moved into in 2016.[25] The deal was finalized in May 2018 and NeuLion common stock was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.[26]

Endeavor Streaming

Endeavor Streaming was formed by Endeavor Group in January 2019, with the new division including Endeavor's video streaming products and services[6] and also absorbing NeuLion.[27] The new subsidiary was described as a "direct-to-consumer streaming unit, which conducts front and back end operations for sports leagues" and other clients.[28] Endeavor Streaming maintained contracts with former NeuLion clients such as Univision, Sky Sports,[6] the NFL, NBA, UFC, and Big Ten Network.[27] Endeavor Streaming announced it would be managing the WWE's WWE Network subscription service as well.[6] On January 5, 2024, Endeavor Streaming will start distributing Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) TNA+ subscription service.[29]

Endeavor hired Fred Santarpia to run Endeavor Streaming in November 2020. Business Insider wrote that Santarpia would oversee global expansion.[28] In 2021 and 2022, it launched OTT platforms for networks and sports organizations in Europe, Japan,[30] and the Philippines.[31] In recent years, the company has also offered business consulting and predictive analysis on matters related to OTT platforms.[2]

Products and services

Vesper Platform

Endeavor Streaming describes itself as an over-the-top (OTT) platform provider, customizing streaming applications for networks and major sports franchises.[32] In particular, it creates direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming services[33] which are compatible with desktop computers, iOS and Android devices,[30] and various streaming television systems.[34]

The company calls its end-to-end video streaming platform[34] the Vesper Platform. The platform primarily distributes premium sports and entertainment content, live and on-demand. The platform also has a number of distribution and management features, including a monetization suite, analytics and data aggregation, machine learning, playback options, stream security,[35] and subscriber management.[36] There are also features to optimize content for viewers,[35] such as localization of content and bookmarking between devices.[34]

To allow live shopping on its streaming platforms, Endeavor Streaming incorporated the platform AiBUY into its own platform in 2022.[37] Also in 2022, partnered with Frequency, Endeavor Streaming created a platform to allow clients to directly customize their own channels,[33] and launch and monetize their platforms on free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services, for example The Roku Channel and Samsung TV Plus.[32]

Consulting

Endeavor Streaming also offers services such as business consulting,[2] analytics, and predictive modeling[34] in relation to over-the-top (OTT) and direct-to-consumer (DTC) media streaming.[2] Its DTC growth services division consults[34] on scaling and topics such as churn rate, pricing, and marketing.[2] In 2023, Endeavor Streaming published a whitepaper on streaming and market trends in collaboration with SportsPro.[38]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 David Ng (March 26, 2018), "Endeavor acquires digital streaming company NeuLion", Los Angeles Times, retrieved August 21, 2023
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Euan Cunningham (May 5, 2023), "Endeavor Streaming's Santarpia on half-decade of progress", Sportcal, retrieved August 27, 2023
  3. 1 2 3 4 "NeuLion to Buy Video-Tech Firm DivX in $62.5 Million Deal". Variety. 5 January 2015.
  4. 1 2 "NeuLion rises after deal with New Zealand's Sky". Cantech Letter. 29 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Eric Fisher (June 22, 2015). "Tennis Channel renews with NeuLion for OTT". Sports Business Journal.
  6. 1 2 3 4 David Ng (January 14, 2019), "Endeavor launches streaming division, with WWE as new client", Los Angeles Times, retrieved August 27, 2023
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Jon Ourand; Eric Fisher (April 2, 2018), "Timing right for NeuLion, Endeavor deal", Sports Business Journal, retrieved August 21, 2023
  8. ↑ Claude Solnik (November 18, 2013), "Rough start (still) for NeuLion", Long Island Business News, retrieved August 27, 2023
  9. 1 2 JumpTV, NeuLion to merge, CBC, June 9, 2008, retrieved August 21, 2023
  10. ↑ "JumpTV Inc (TSX:NLN) Announces New Name Change to NeuLion, Inc". MarketWire NeuLion. 2009-03-14.
  11. ↑ "NeuLion Announces Close of Acquisition of Interactive Netcasting System Inc". RTT News. 2009-11-02.
  12. ↑ "NeuLion Announces the Closing of Its Previously Announced Acquisition of Transvideo". MarketWire NeuLion. 2010-10-01.
  13. ↑ "NeuLion Feeds Need for Football With NFL Preseason Live". Sports Video. 2012-08-21.
  14. ↑ "EFL Digital Taps Streaming Partners | Multichannel". www.multichannel.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  15. ↑ Tom Allen (2015-04-12). "LGE Renews License Agreement with NeuLion to Integrate DivX(R) HEVC 4K for Its Ultra HD TVs". Display Daily.
  16. ↑ James K. Willcox (2016-01-07). "Samsung Launches Brighter SUHD TVs, and a 4K Blu-ray Player". Consumer Reports.
  17. ↑ "Sony taps NeuLion for 4K live streaming". Digital TV Europe. 2016-01-07.
  18. ↑ Mike Reynolds (2016-01-16). "NBA's 4K Telecast: Spectacular Views from London". Next TV.
  19. ↑ Jonathan Vanian (2015-06-16). "How the NBA Finals are beamed across the globe without hiccups". Fortune.
  20. ↑ Jeff Baumgartner (2015-09-03). "NeuLion, UFC Punch Up New Digital Deal". Multichannel News.
  21. ↑ Juan Fernandez Gonzalez (2016-01-08). "NeuLion powers Univision's new OTT service". Rapid TV News.
  22. ↑ "First North American Live Soccer Broadcast in 4K". LiveProduction.tv. 2016-02-15.
  23. ↑ Costa, Brandon. "UFC.TV Makes History With UFC 205 Streamed Globally in 4K at 60 fps". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
  24. ↑ "Update - NeuLion Positioned for Next Stage of Growth". Market Wired - NeuLion. 2016-06-06.
  25. ↑ David Winzelberg (October 13, 2016), "NeuLion buys Melville office building", Long Island Business News, retrieved August 27, 2023
  26. ↑ "NeuLion Announces Closing of Acquisition by Endeavor". GlobeNewswire News Room. NeuLion. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  27. 1 2 Endeavor Streaming formed with Neulion, CNBC, January 15, 2019, retrieved August 27, 2023
  28. 1 2 Claire Atkinson (November 13, 2020), "Ari Emanuel's Endeavor nabs a Condé Nast alum to expand its streaming company globally", Business Insider, AP, retrieved August 27, 2023
  29. ↑ "TNA WRESTLING PARTNERS WITH ENDEAVOR STREAMING TO DISTRIBUTE ITS ON DEMAND SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE TNA+ STARTING JANUARY 5". IMPACT! Wrestling. December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  30. 1 2 Tariq Saleh (November 2, 2021), "Sky PerfecTV teams up with Endeavor Streaming to create soccer OTT platform", Sportcal, retrieved August 26, 2023
  31. ↑ Joseph Perry (September 16, 2022), Filipino platform Tap DMV launches expanded service following Endeavor Streaming tie-up, SportBusiness, retrieved August 26, 2023
  32. 1 2 Ed Dixon (April 22, 2022), "Endeavor Streaming partners with Frequency to combine DTC and FAST streaming distribution", Sports Pro Media, retrieved August 21, 2023
  33. 1 2 Masha Abarinova (April 22, 2022), "Endeavor Streaming and Frequency launch a FAST one-stop shop", Fierce Video, retrieved August 27, 2023
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 "Endeavor Streaming, NHRA Team Up to Host New Global Service", Drag Illustrated, February 15, 2023, retrieved August 27, 2023
  35. 1 2 Our Platform, Endeavor Streaming, retrieved August 21, 2023
  36. ↑ Susan Lingeswaran (July 20, 2022), PTO teams up with Endeavor Streaming to launch free OTT platform, Sportcal, retrieved August 27, 2023
  37. ↑ J. Clara Chan (August 3, 2022), "Endeavor Streaming to Offer Live Shopping Capabilities to Clients", The Hollywood Reporter, retrieved August 27, 2023
  38. ↑ March 1, 2023, "Endeavor Streaming X SportsPro: The future of streaming is fan first", SportsPro Media
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