If you're a football fan, Microsoft wants to make an Xbox One integral to your gameday experience. A new version of the NFL app for Xbox One, coming out later this month, is how the company plans to do it.

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It starts with videos. Lots of videos. The app is centered around NFL Now, the personalized highlight and analysis channel that's tailored for your favorite teams and your fantasy leagues. Those who upgrade to a premium subscription will be able to stream classic games and other programming like documentaries and shows from the NFL Films "vault."

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That's not all: if you have a cable subscription to NFL Network and NFL RedZone, you'll be able to stream those on the console, and DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers will get full access through their consoles as well. If you sign up for Sunday Ticket's full online subscription, you'll get access to DirecTV's own Red Zone and new Fantasy Zone channels as well — the latter highlights your fantasy players as they get close to scoring.

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But it's not just video content. Fantasy football tracking is a huge part of the new experience. Building on the Xbox One app from last season, the new version has an updated Snap mode that shows a stream of plays made by your fantasy players. And instead of navigating menus to play highlights, you'll be able to set global Xbox One notifications for when fantasy players make big plays. Just hold the Xbox button and a replay will Snap to the side of the screen alongside whatever you're doing. Perhaps most importantly, the new app will work with more fantasy football leagues beyond NFL.com. Microsoft representatives confirmed to Polygon that ESPN is on board, and work is underway to bring Yahoo and CBS into the fold.

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The new app is the latest fruit from NFL and Microsoft's $400 million, multi-year partnership. It's worth noting that you won't have to buy an Xbox One to get most of these features — the NFL app will be one of the very first "universal" apps on the console. That means the same app will work both on Xbox Ones and Windows 8 PCs — a feat made possible by the fact that the game console partially runs on Windows. Of course, the advantage of having an Xbox is that you can pass your cable feed directly through the console and use the NFL app side-by-side with live games.

What really matters for Microsoft, though, is if its high-profile NFL partnership will convince fans to buy an Xbox One. After heavily focusing on the console's TV and entertainment chops at launch, Microsoft has refocused on gaming as it's struggled to go toe-to-toe with Sony's PlayStation 4 sales numbers. The company has already abandoned its ambitious Xbox Entertainment Studios programming — perhaps a one-of-a-kind NFL app will make more of a difference.

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The app will also feature NFL Now, the personalized streaming service announced prior to the Super Bowl. The free, ad-supported version will bring you a stream of news, highlights, and analysis of your favorite teams and players. A paid subscription will additionally grant you access to the full NFL video vault, streamed in HD to your TV.

Users paying for the various integrated subscriptions will be able to get the most out of the app, but even without cable you will be able to view all the highlights, scores, and statistics that the NFL publishes on their website.

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Microsoft has announced it is spicing up the live football coverage available through its Xbox One NFL Network app by offering something that current cable and satellite boxes simply can’t: sports delivered at 60 frames per second. Thanks to a new partnership with the online streaming specialists at Neulion, Microsoft will be able to increase the frame rate of its live football app content to up to double the frame rate of broadcast TV.

According to CED Magazine, Neulion has struck a multi-year deal with Microsoft to deliver 24/7 live sports programming, on demand coverage, and a host of live stats updates, such as those necessary for the app’s Fantasy Football monitoring system.

The streams will be provided at seven different tiers, ranging from the top stream of 720p HD resolution at 60fps (bout 6 Mbps), to below SD resolution at 30fps (about 600 kbps). The frame rate and pixel resolution will depend upon a viewer’s bandwidth and network conditions. No word was given as to whether the app will be scaled up to full 1080p HD resolution, but the faster frame rate could make it worth sacrificing a few pixels. According to CED, sports networks, including ESPN, have said time and again that frame rate trumps resolution if given a choice between one or the other.

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DirecTV announced on its website the introduction of NFLSundayTicket.tv, which allows subscribers to stream live, out-of-market games without requiring a dish. Fans can stream the contests on laptops, tablets, smartphones or using a gaming console.

Packages range from $199.99 for laptop, computer and phone services (with a student discount available) to $329.99 for the full package on all compatible devices and gaming consoles, including DirecTV's Red Zone Channel and new Fantasy Zone channel.

Of course, there are restrictions.

The service is only available to those who: 1) live in apartment buildings where DirecTV service is unavailable; 2) live in metro New York, Philadelphia or San Francisco; or 3) attend college at Michigan (Ann Arbor), Alabama, Washington, Texas (Austin), USC, Florida, Colorado (Boulder), Syracuse, Ohio State or Harvard.

While some residing outside those restricted areas will still bemoan having to pay for DirecTV in order to utilize Sunday Ticket, it's a game changer for those in urban areas unable to partake due to regulations.

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TechnicPuppet said:

I really want this in the UK.

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LQX said:

I don't get why they did not also do this deal with ESPN and Yahoo which has way better fantasy leagues and are probably more popular than the NFL fantasy league.

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LQX said:

I don't get why they did not also do this deal with ESPN and Yahoo which has way better fantasy leagues and are probably more popular than the NFL fantasy league.

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TechnicPuppet said:

I really want this in the UK.

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RBH said:

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Dukey said:

Is the app providing Redzone or do you need to already have it?

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Dukey said:

Is the app providing Redzone or do you need to already have it?

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TechnicPuppet said:

I really want this in the UK.

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UraMallas said:

I don't have RedZone and it is providing that stream for me right now. We'll see how it goes during the games.

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Dukey said:

I have Redzone. There's no content right now. What is it giving you? I'm assuming it's an NFLN feed.

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suddenlyissoon said:

Have Sunday Ticket through Directv and was excited when this was announced. I can't use any of the live features though as directv is not an allowed provider

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suddenlyissoon said:

Have Sunday Ticket through Directv and was excited when this was announced. I can't use any of the live features though as directv is not an allowed provider

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sangreal said:

yeah, it's showing NFLN clips

the actual redzone channel is giving me nfl fantasy live though, which it does every sunday morning. Maybe that's just a verizon thing though

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KaYotiX said:

Snap TV and just tune your TV to redzone. Wish I wasn't at work cause I'd be doing that. Playing games while watching football is great.

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KaYotiX said:

Snap TV and just tune your TV to redzone. Wish I wasn't at work cause I'd be doing that. Playing games while watching football is great.

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tensuke said:

Ugh don't remind me of the Falcons' record...

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MThanded said:

Wait so doe this app give you redzone too?

I already have redzone. If it did I could cancel it.

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UraMallas said:

It's rotating between different stats and I can change the games that I have snapped along the bottom of the snap window:



Just chose my favorite team in the Vikings (FML) and an achievement unlocked. The future is now, men and women.

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Alchemy said:

Never understood what this does that the online feed doesn't. Watching the RedZone channel (on my tv thats to a htpc), and I get all the NFL.com fantasy stats as well.

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UraMallas said:

Well, you pay for that. I don't pay for this unless you count the $500 console and Live. Some might but this is a gaming console first and foremost for me and anything that helps me on Sunday for football and all of my college hoops is icing.

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UraMallas said:

As far as I know this doesn't have any fantasy support right now. I was looking for a fantasy app in the store and couldn't find one. I just snapped the NFL app on my TV and it appears that it's the RedZone channel streamed right now, which is going to be nice when the games start. We'll see how it goes.

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weekend_warrior said:

It's Sunday, anybody using this?

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Neifirst said:

Seems it's not ready for prime time yet. The Bears-Rams game scoreboard isn't even updating within the app, even though it says "Live - Q1". I have absolutely loved every other aspect of the X1 interface thus far, so I have to think this app will get fixed eventually.

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Dukey said:

This appears to be as useless as it first sounded back in May if you're an NFL fan without Sunday Ticket or Redzone.

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Dukey said:

This appears to be as useless as it first sounded back in May if you're an NFL fan without Sunday Ticket or Redzone.

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