By Andrew Lippe 

Beginning Monday the International Fight League (IFL) will reach fans via on the Web via a new relationship with Neulion, an IPTV provider that provides similar networks for the National High School Coaches Association and the National Hockey League (more than 1,700 NHL events have been broadcast online via Neulion). The deal complements IFL TV deals with Fox Sports Net and on Mark Cuban’s HD Net.  

“Neulion are pioneers in video distribution platforms,” says Jay Larkin, IFL CEO. Larkin says fans of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and the IFL are an Internet-savvy bunch so the deal makes perfect sense. The IFL owns all of its distribution rights and currently distributes highlight packages of league competitions on You Tube. "The goal was to find broadcast quality distribution on the Internet," adds Larkin. The IPTV network can also be used by players and coaches to scout upcoming opponents.

Chris Wagner EVP and co-founder of NeuLion, says the IPTV network will offer everything from live PPV action (subscription based) to free VOD services. The IFL will also syndicate video to Yahoo and Amazon with Neulion handling the encoding of video for the different formats. Data rates will range from 300kb to 1MB. "If you like MMA, you will be glued to this video player," adds Wagner.