Record-Breaking Viewership for Tyson vs. Paul Fight on Netflix, Despite Technical Issues

Netflix’s first venture into live boxing proved to be a major draw, with 60 million households worldwide tuning in to watch the high-profile bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. The streaming giant hailed the event as a “record-breaking night” as it ventured into live sports broadcasting, offering the fight free for all subscribers.

The match, held at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, pitted 58-year-old former world heavyweight champion Tyson against 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul. Despite Tyson’s legendary status and Paul’s appeal to a younger demographic, the fight itself received mixed reactions from viewers. Some criticized the match for being lackluster, falling short of the high expectations set by the massive buildup.

Beyond the action in the ring, the event attracted significant media attention and boasted a star-studded audience including Charlize Theron, Ralph Macchio, Joe Jonas, and Hasan Minhaj. Paul stated that the fight reached 120 million live viewers globally, though Netflix confirmed the number of households tuning in at 60 million. The platform announced that more detailed viewership data would be released in the coming week.

However, the record-breaking night was marred by technical issues, leaving many fans frustrated. Numerous viewers reported that Netflix’s stream experienced repeated crashes, buffering issues, and, in some cases, an inability to access the broadcast altogether. Reactions on social media highlighted the disappointment: one user on X called the fight “unwatchable,” while another expressed anger over staying up all night only to face streaming failures.

Despite these technical hiccups, Netflix did not provide a comment regarding the outages. The streaming service now faces the challenge of addressing these issues as it contemplates future live sports broadcasts, balancing the success of record engagement with user satisfaction.