NeuLion is powering live sports streaming on Xbox One, under a multi-year deal announced today. According to a Microsoft spokesman, the first linear channel available is the NFL Network, accessible to Xbox Live Gold subscribers as part of the NFL's app. Subscribers must also be authenticated as pay-TV subscribers.

As seen in the below screen shot, the live stream is complimented by real-time data and highlights accessible from numerous on-screen menus, creating an immersive viewer experience.

NeuLion EVP Chris Wagner told me that the company is capturing the NFL Network video feed, encoding it and transcoding it  into 7 different bit rates from 600 kbps to 6 mbps, with the top rate featuring 60 frames per second quality which Xbox One's new processors can handle.

Chris said the Xbox One deal follows prior work NeuLion has been doing delivering sports content to Xbox 360 for other major sports leagues. The key differentiator for the NeuLion platform is the synchronous integration of the relevant data with the live video feed.

Microsoft has said that over 3 million Xbox Ones were sold in 2013, following its launch on November 22.