Tyson vs Paul Hit By Technical Issues Amid Netflix’s Push Into Sports

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul’s heavyweight clash may have smashed viewer records, but technical issues are worrying many ahead of Netflix’s upcoming push into sports

Netflix says 60 million households watched the Paul vs. Tyson main event live around the world, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams. 

The event, held at the A&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas pitted the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion against the 27-year-old YouTube influencer. It was free to watch for all of the streaming giant’s 283 million subscribers. 

Netflix says 50 million households across the world also tuned in live for the co-main event of Serrano vs. Taylor 2, potentially making it one of most most-watched women’s sporting events in US history. 

However many users took to social networks such as X or Reddit to complain about issues around freezes, losing sound, and slow reload times. These technical mishaps may prove highly consequential for Netflix; the streaming giant has several high-profile events in the sporting world penciled into its calendar. 

Netflix plans to stream two NFL games on Christmas Day, as the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers are set to go head-to-head before the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. Some remain pessimistic, however. NFL commentator Clay Travis tweeted about the Netflix fight: “This is a disaster for Netflix.” 

“They have no chance of successfully airing a Chiefs-Steelers Christmas Day NFL game based on this performance,” he added.

Netflix is also set to start streaming World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) “Raw” in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America from January 6 onwards. A partnership that Wired says may cost the streaming giant $6 billion over its lifetime.

Though Netflix’s team is undoubtedly under pressure ahead of Christmas, many of Netflix’s rivals have already made successful forays in the world of sports streaming with minimal hitches. Amazon Prime Video has been showing the NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” since September 2022.

Whatever happens in terms of its technical performance on Christmas, it’s a huge investment for Netflix. The New York Post reports that the streaming giant paid around $150 for the rights to the Christmas Day NFL games.