Microsoft has nabbed a contract with NeuLion, giving them access to live, on-demand sports content at HD, 60 FPS.
NeuLion is a digital TV service that specializes in providing live, on-demand content in Internet connected devices. Based in New York, they have acquired other companies through the years, including JumpTVInc, Interactive Netcasting Systems Inc in Vancouver, and Transvideo International Ltd in China, giving it access to that company’s IPTV and set top box manufacturing businesses.
NeuLion’s partners are the who’s who of sports, including, but not limited to, the NFL, NHL, NBA, ESPN, UFC, Bellator, Barclays, WNBA, Major League Soccer, Big Ten, Professional Bowlers Association, Big 12 Conference, and a variety of smaller sports leagues, and even individual sports teams. They also have contracts with Univision and Sundance Now.
The press release explains that NeuLion’s agreement with Xbox One will go on for several years, and will involve them modifying the sports programmes so that they are integrated with Xbox One’s functions. You can probably expect a bigger variety of Kinect commands to work with their programs, and thanks to their far reach, they have most of the big sports covered.
Microsoft is reaffirming their plan to make Xbox One more of an entertainment device, and frankly, it’s looking better on that end at the moment than it has in it is initial batch of 30FPS games. We’re sure many Xbox One players would use this app, but the question comes up: is this the direction they want their console of choice to go into?
