According to a press release from Netflix and MVP Promotions, the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul match produced record-breaking viewership numbers. Unfortunately, many subscribers may not grade their experience highly.
Paul won a unanimous decision over the boxing legend after eight less-than-tense rounds. However, most of the fights on the show’s undercard were strong, especially the co-main event, in which Katie Taylor won another close decision over Amanda Serrano.
Some of the viewership numbers won’t be available until next week, but according to the information provided, the show was watched in 60 million households, and the main event peaked at 65 million concurrent streams.
The co-main event was watched by 50 million, making it the most-watched professional women’s sports event in US history. Joe Hand Promotions reported a record for commercial distribution of a combat sports event. The organization facilitated the event’s distribution to more than 6,000 bars and restaurants across the country.
From a pure impressions and visibility standpoint, the #PaulTyson hashtag was the No. 1 trending topic globally on Friday. The #Serrano hashtag was No. 2 in the United States, Brazil, Spain, and Canada. Issues associated with the fight accounted for 11 of the top trending topics in the United States. The event, which was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, generated the biggest boxing gate ($18 million) outside of Las Vegas in US history.
That gate was twice as high as the top Texas gate record for a combat sports event before Friday, topping the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders fight, which generated a $9 million gate in May 2021. From a pure attendance standpoint, the event drew more than 72,000 fans to the venue.
A number of celebrities were on hand, and many of them were shown on screen during the broadcast. The crowd and/or panel included Evander Holyfield (panel), Shaquille O’Neal, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jerry Jones (panel), Charlize Theron, Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Josh Duhamel, Joe Jonas, Joe Manganiello, Lennox Lewis (panel), Rob Gronkowski, Mike Epps, Simu Liu, Daddy Yankee, Jay Shetty, Anderson Silva, Tom Segura, Jeff Ross, Joey Fatone, Tori Kelly, Micah Parsons, Brandin Cooks, Trevon Diggs, Michael Irvin (panel), Jason Witten, Cedric the Entertainer (panel), Hasan Minhaj, Mark Davis, Bryson DeChambeau, Omari Hardwick, Darren Barnet, Jonathan Daviss, Carlacia Grant, Andre Ward (panel) and more.
All of the above information is true, but I’d be missing a significant portion of the story if I didn’t discuss the frustrating connectivity issues and the disconnected group Netflix and MVP brought in to work the event.
Social media was going crazy all night with memes and frustrating posts from fans angered by their inability to watch the fight. Constant buffering or a plain inability to log on was something I experienced, and millions of other Netflix subscribers spoke out about it on Friday night.
The event was Netflix’s first live sports event, and it felt like it. In addition to the connectivity issues, there was so much commentary from non-combat sports professionals that it became frustrating to listen to over the course of the night.
I understand the event was a major crossover event, so there is a thought that there is room for a casual audience. Unfortunately, I think that concept was leaned into a little too heavily. If Netflix dips its toes back into the live sports pool, let’s hope the streaming service learns from its mistakes.
