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]

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]