During live coverage for this past weekend’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing card, many fans complained of buffering and crashing issues. The Netflix-theme fight faced more than it’s share of issues. But Netflix has announced that the fight was a huge hit with viewers around the world. Even if the product in the ring did not live up to expectations of a bloated Tyson return.
According to the streaming company, 60 million households worldwide watched the fight between YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul, 27, and Tyson live. Along with a whopping 65 million concurrent streams, per reports from ESPN (ESPN News Services).
The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records and even had our buffering systems on the ropes
Netflix said in a press release statement
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson makes history with over 108 Million LIVE global viewers!
It’s the most-streamed global sporting event ever and Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano 2 is the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history. pic.twitter.com/QN1P5EWUEc
— Netflix (@netflix) November 19, 2024
Despite the criticism of toying with an immobile almost-60 Tyson, it provided the lifelong cruiserweight Paul with much exposure. It also raised his stock and talk-point as “Iron” Mike asked The Department of Licensing and Regulations to bill it as a pro bout. At the same time, the co-main event – an actual legitimate fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano — had 50 million households streaming their fight.
Per Netflix PR,
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight is the most-streamed sporting event ever, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams, with 38 million concurrent streams in the US.
Paul-Tyson fight garnered an estimated average minute audience1 (AMA) of 108 million live viewers… pic.twitter.com/95XdcmO2yC
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 19, 2024
The 10-round rematch for Taylor’s undisputed super lightweight championship (WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO titles) had people talking even after the another historic fight. Meanwhile, Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) even touted some hook-or-crook tact and gain for Netflix, more than that of 2024 NBA playoff streams. Netflix themselves are passing this as quite the success.
Netflix: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul streaming issues ‘handled brilliantly’
On Tuesday, Netflix announced that Tyson vs. Paul topped 108 million viewers for the boxing event. According to TVision – a company that measures tele viewing — 56 per cent of all US viewers between 12am and 1am EST tuned in to watch Mike Tyson return. The event was also Netflix’s #1 event of the week with 46.6 million views (total hours/time) through Sunday night.
Netflix claims positivity despite issues infuriating Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson streamers (Source: ringtv.com/express.co.uk)Jake Paul constantly touted the fight’s selling power, with Netflix signing on to stream the event. Rather than being a pay-per-view event, Tyson vs. Paul was available to Netflix subscribers at no extra charge. Even if most ended up dissatisfied with the actual quality of the main event and streaming, Netflix says otherwise.
Bloomberg has uncovered an internal memo sent to staff by Netflix’s chief technology officer, Elizabeth Stone. She reportedly celebrated the success of the event and the handling of the streaming glitches that have been trending.
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.
Elizabeth Stone wrote in an internal media memo
Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime over San Francisco 49ers in last season’s Super Bowl averaged 123.7 million viewers across TV/streaming. Thus making it the most-watched programme in history. This was Netflix’s first foray into sporting event; it will be looking to topple these records. Netflix will be streaming two NFL games on Christmas and will start streaming WWE “Raw” in January.
