Digital video company
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 began distributing Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) subscription service TNA+.[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]
