It’s NBA All-Star weekend and for the first time, the league is offering free access to live-streamed interviews of players to TV networks, social media and other publishers in over 180 countries around the world. Half the interviews will occur today at 11:05am PT with the other half at 11:50am PT. The NBA views these interviews as a way of generating visibility for players in their home countries and bringing fans closer to the action.

NeuLion is the NBA’s partner in this initiative and Chris Wagner, EVP at NeuLion told me in an interview that the NeuLion Digital Platform is being used to power the live interviews, including encoders, services and cloud as the main technology components involved. NeuLion staff has been testing and configuring the live streams and working closely to support global distributors who are planning to carry the streams. Chris anticipates other rights-holders will also syndicate live events globally in order to better connect with fans.

The interviews will be available as both RTMP and HLS streams and can also be ingested with a variety of encoders and media servers for on-demand replay.

(If you’re interested in learning more, join as at the NABShow Online Video Program, where Chris will host a panel, “The Six Pillars of a Successful OTT Video Strategy” that will include Steve Hellmuth, EVP, Media Operations and Technology, NBA and other guests. Discounted tickets are available with the code EP02 by following this link.)