PLAINVIEW, NY--(Marketwired - February 23, 2016) - NeuLion, Inc. (TSX: NLN), a leading technology product and service provider specializing in the broadcasting, distribution and monetization of live and on-demand digital video content to Internet-enabled devices, and Major League Soccer today announced the renewal of their partnership agreement and the continuation of exceptional growth for MLS LIVE. The ultimate digital soccer experience for fans to watch and interact with live, condensed and archived MLS games is poised to have another record year, continuing its multi-year growth trend. The MLS streaming video experience reported tremendous success in the 2015 season, due to the increasing popularity of soccer in North America, the high-quality video delivery and many innovative consumer features.
As MLS prepares for the launch of the 2016 season, it has announced that MLS LIVE, powered by the NeuLion® Digital Platform, has seen a 60% growth in subscriptions on a year-over-year basis. As MLS' passionate fan-base continues to demand access to their favorite soccer content anytime, anywhere, MLS LIVE has seen a record number of existing subscribers renewing the service this year as well as a record number of new activations from first-time subscribers. During 2016, MLS and NeuLion plan to launch a number of enhancements for fans of MLS LIVE, including closer integration with MLSsoccer.com through single sign-on, and new user interfaces. Users can register now for full season access to 2016 MLS LIVE action.
In addition, MLS fans have expanded their viewing across multiple screens, all powered by NeuLion, exceeding last year's online viewing engagement. Forty percent of MLS fans view MLS LIVE from their PC, 40 percent from smartphones and tablets and the remaining 20 percent from connected devices like Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast.
"Our partnership with NeuLion helps us deliver a second-to-none soccer experience for our fans which is crucial for our digital strategy," said Chris Schlosser, Senior Vice President & General Manager, MLS Digital. "With the tremendous success of MLS LIVE, we are excited to continue to add even more ways for our fans to enjoy all the action this season."
Through the subscription-based service, soccer fans receive access to MLS content across multiple devices ensuring they never miss a moment of action. More than just video streaming, MLS LIVE also gives fans control of how they watch with interactive fan touch points such as key play markers, slow motion viewing, real-time live stats, DVR fan controls, social media integration and more.
"NeuLion understands the importance of staying cutting edge and meeting the demands of soccer fans while driving subscriptions for the league," said NeuLion CEO Dr. Kanaan Jemili. "NeuLion's expertise in delivering live sports ensures our partners are at the forefront of innovation and continue to take the experience to the next level year after year."
The NeuLion Digital Platform is an end-to-end platform providing licensed components from content ingestion, encoding and management to content security, monetization and monitoring that streamline the content delivery process. The platform facilitates the streaming and sharing of high-quality content up to Ultra HD/4K, including premium sports and entertainment content.
Visit https://live.mlssoccer.com/ for more information and to register.
About Major League Soccer
Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer features 20 clubs throughout the United States and Canada. The 2015 season featured the most comprehensive U.S. media rights partnership in the history of the league, as eight-year agreements with ESPN, FOX Sports and Univision Deportes commenced. For more information about MLS, visit www.MLSsoccer.com.
About NeuLion
NeuLion, Inc. (TSX: NLN) offers solutions that power the highest quality digital experiences for live and on-demand content up to 4K on any device. Through its end-to-end technology platform, NeuLion enables digital content management, distribution and monetization for content owners worldwide including the NFL, NBA, World Surf League, Univision Deportes, Euroleague Basketball and others. NeuLion also operates a robust consumer electronics licensing business that has enabled over 1 billion devices worldwide with secure, high-quality video streaming, and delivers a DivX consumer software offering that has been downloaded over 1 billion times. NeuLion's customers include major sports, entertainment and global content companies as well as major consumer electronics manufacturers and software companies. NeuLion is headquartered in Plainview, NY. For more information about NeuLion, visit www.NeuLion.com.