Next Generation Sports Network (NGSN) has launched a beta version of its US sports network offering 24/7 OTT access to thousands of football matches of seven European and South American leagues via internet and mobile.
“It is the first time that viewers in US will be able to watch soccer in HD quality anywhere, anytime, any way and as much they want,” the new broadcaster said in a press release, “The offering is also the first of its kind: no other broadcaster offers non-linear broadcasting of entire soccer games of this many leagues.”
The competitions offered are from Portugal, The Netherlands, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Russia and Venezuela. Negotiations are under way to add other competitions and other sports.
Games can be watched live and on demand, in full or just the highlights with either English or Spanish commentary and statistics. The live streaming and on-demand service will be available for a monthly subscription fee.
Viewers access the service through an app on tablet or phone (both Android and iOS are supported) or through NGSN.com with a desktop or laptop computer. Games can also be watched on TV using Google Chromecast. NGSN will soon also be available on game consoles such as X-Box, smart TVs and other internet connected devices.
NGSN is currently only available in the US but will soon launch in Canada. Other countries will quickly follow thereafter.
“We are excited to reach out to all those soccer fans in the US for whom it is hardly possible and very expensive to watch soccer. Netflix and the like have also shown that viewers want to determine when to watch what. NGSN meets soccer fans in all these needs: an affordable way to enjoy 24/7 thousands of games without commercial breaks in HD quality,” said NGSN CEO Harry van Streun in a statement.
“We expect to quickly boast our offering in terms of both content and the countries where NGSN will broadcast. With our global partner Microsoft we have an organization and a platform that supports that quick growth.”
Van Streun started working on NGSN two years ago. Soccer has the biggest audience out of any sport worldwide, but fans in the US have historically been underserved because many of the games just aren’t shown — even on expensive, sports-package networks. Harry knew it was time for a 24-hour, live-streaming, on-demand, sports network that offers all the domestic and international games you want for one price.
Games can be viewed live, or on demand to watch later at the viewer’s convenience. “Our model makes us completely different from any offering out there today.”
Technical partner of NGSN is Microsoft. NGSN provides a unified interface to news and results of the games for various mobile platforms backed by Microsoft Azure as well as continuous access to the network and continuous and effective operations behind the scenes with Microsoft Azure Media Services.
