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 JumpTV in 2008, [9] then JumpTV Inc. changed its name to NeuLion, Inc. in 2009 and continued trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the new name. [10] NeuLion acquired Interactive Netcasting Systems in 2009, [11] and TransVideo International in 2010. [12]
By 2015, 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 when the league moved its contract to BAMTech. [7] NeuLion acquired DivX, Inc. in 2015, [3] with former DivX CEO Kanaan Jemili becoming CEO of NeuLion, [3] which gave NeuLion access to DivX's 4K Ultra HD technology, [3] and integrated into devices 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] where NeuLion's 2016 broadcast of UFC 205 became the first global pay-per-view event to be live streamed in 4K. [23] NeuLion acquired Saffron Digital in that year, and Roy Reichbach was named President and CEO. [24] In March 2018, NeuLion agreed to be acquired by Endeavor for USD$250 million, becoming 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 media companies. [28] Endeavor Streaming maintained contracts with former NeuLion clients such as Univision, Sky Sports, [6] the NFL, NBA, UFC, and Big Ten Network, [27] and announced WWE as a new client. [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]
