Nancy Li

Photo by: NEULION

When digital media company NeuLion formed nine years ago, sports wasn’t an immediate focus. Rather, the goal was to more broadly form a global service to provide over-the-top digital video delivery.

But soon enough, Chief Executive Nancy Li and her colleagues learned that nearly all the major trend lines around digital video were converging around sports.

“This was just something, and still is, about live sports, and having that content live and in the moment that was tailor-made for what we do,” Li said.

Within a few years, the company held partnerships with nearly every major property in North American sports, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, UFC and dozens of major colleges.

Among the more innovative projects spearheaded by Li include the deployment of the popular All-22 coaches’ camera angle for the NFL GamePass package, and the UFC’s interactive video product that blends alternate camera angles, live scoring and social media integration.

Li and the company are now actively exploring how to harness the increased power of the forthcoming generation of video game consoles such as the Xbox One slated for release this fall.

“We’re still at the very beginning, and there’s still so much we can do,” she said. “These newer devices and their additional processing power give us a lot of additional ways to provide unique experiences.”