Netflix Inc.’s foray into live sports with a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul attracted a massive global audience of 65 million viewers, but prompted thousands of viewer complaints about connection problems and frozen screens.
“We hit the ground running,” Paul, 27, said after his victory over 58-year-old Tyson. “This is the biggest event.”
In an internal company memo seen by Bloomberg News, Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone said the fight drew 65 million viewers at the same time, which rivals some of the most-watched sporting events.
Some of those viewers took to social media to vent their frustration at the glitches in the broadcast of the much-anticipated matchup. Over 100,000 users reported network issues on the Downdetector website during the live stream, commenting on slow buffering and network issues. Boxer Evander Holyfield was also struggling to hear the show’s host when he was asked about his infamous fight with Tyson.
Netflix declined to comment on the overall outcome of the event.
The company’s biggest live streaming event is part of its plan to promote its new advertising business. Netflix is investing in live event capabilities for mega shows like boxing matches. Love Is Blind The reunion debacle. The platform ran a teaser for the upcoming NFL games on Christmas Day during Friday’s scrimmage.
The match between former heavyweight champion Tyson and boxer-turned-YouTuber Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was not up to snuff, with critics calling it a lackluster fight. The judges unanimously decided that Paul won the fight in eight rounds without a knockout.
Tyson came out of retirement to face Paul, and the match was expected to be a key driver of Netflix subscriptions. Overall, the fourth quarter is expected to earn 10 million, 11% ahead of consensus, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Before the match, users on the social networking site X complained that they were unable to stream the event, and one sarcastically thanked Netflix for “bringing us back to the glory days of the Internet phone.”
“Seriously? Didn’t you make sure you weren’t going to have server issues?” a user named TheYounger posted in response to a post announcing the fight by Netflix.
