Despite streaming issues, Netflix set a U.S. viewership record during Friday night's bout
The Friday night boxing match between 58-year-old Mike Tyson and 27-year-old Jake Paul was never going to be the next Ali-Frazier. Nor would it ever challenge the greatest round of boxing I ever had the privilege of seeing live. That was the 13th round of the Larry Holmes-Ken Norton heavyweight bout back in 1978 when the two sluggers battled it out toe-to-toe, face-to-face. It was the kind of boxing you rarely see today and Holmes ended up with the decision.
That's not to say that the Tyson-Paul fight didn't go "ka-ching" at the cash register. First of all, it is believed that Paul, the former YouTube content creator, will clear around $40 million while Holmes could end up collecting $20 million for the eight-round bout. If there was a loser, it might have been Netflix whose reputation was a little sullied Friday evening as nearly 100,000 customers complained to Downdetector that the streaming service was having problems showing the fight.
Jake Paul, at left, in action during a 2020 fight. | Image credit-Handout Photo
While the fight was free for Netflix subscribers to view, buffering problems made it hard, if not impossible, for many Netflix subscribers to watch the fight. Still, a whopping 50 million viewed the first co-main contest between two women, Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. Despite the streaming issues (which even Netflix refused to acknowledge), this fight will end up being the most-viewed professional women's sporting event in the U.S. As for the main event, it is believed that 60 million viewers simply ignored the problems that Netflix had with the feed.
"60 million households around the world tuned in live to watch Paul vs. Tyson! The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes."-Netflix
Netflix also committed a major faux pas when it accidentally streamed the image of Mike Tyson's naked butt during a pre-fight interview. Tyson was wearing a jock and when he walked away from the interview, viewers were "treated" to this sight without nary a crack from Netflix.
This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers. I’m sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues. We don’t want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success."- Elizabrth Stone, CTO,Netflix
Boxing aficionados were more impressed with the Taylor-Serrano fight as the two women battled back and forth. All three judges had Taylor the winner on their scorecards by a 95-94 score.
All things considered, Netflix got exactly what it wanted from the fight. The match drew a large audience and it was the top news in the sporting world for days. Netflix got the viewers and publicity it sought and we wouldn't be surprised to see the streamer try this again in the future.
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