Netflix’s latest grand live-streaming venture didn’t go off without a hitch this past Friday. The big Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson rumble was such a snoozer that it almost didn’t matter. Watchers reported missing sections of the fight due to lag issues. Netflix and Sasha Fierce herself, Beyoncé, said they plan to make this Christmas a live gameday spectacular if the streaming giant can finally figure out how to make live streaming work.
Beyoncé will headline in her hometown of Houston during the NFL’s Texans v. Ravens halftime show on Dec. 25. Netflix said it should air as the second game of the day at 4:30 p.m. ET. Queen B is supposed to host a round of songs from her recent album Cowboy Carter. The game is part of Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL live broadcast, something the streamer has been promoting for months. The streamer said it will do similar Christmas Gameday broadcasts in 2025 and 2026.
Over the weekend, Netflix wrote on its blog that 60 million of its total 280 million global accounts logged in to watch the Tyson vs. Paul matchup on Nov. 15. The broadcast also went out to approximately 6,000 bars and restaurants in the U.S., according to the company. That’s pretty significant, as some of the most-watched pay-per-view boxing events in history, like the 2015 Mayweather vs. Pacquiao “fight of the century,” had a reported 4.6 million pay-per-view customers.
We don’t know how that performed compared to Netflix’s previous live events, like the 2023 Netflix Cup or the hour-delayed Love is Blind reunion broadcast from April last year. The streaming giant normally doesn’t release viewership numbers to the public and is reluctant to share that data with show creators. However, Netflix said the sister live boxing event, Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor, attained 50 million views.
Despite those numbers, users all around the U.S. complained that they could barely watch it. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy called it “unwatchable.” More people online reported buffering issues, freezing, lag, and poor picture quality. Some saw their streams stuck on a “99%” loading icon for minutes. Folks took to Twitter, Threads, and Bluesky to share screenshots of the circling buffering symbol of doom. Some users tweeted directly at Netflix about the issues, with one user asking the streamer, “Have you tried unplugging and replugging the router?”
Mike Tyson’s punchout in 1987 had better video quality than #Netflix right now. #PaulTyson #Buffering pic.twitter.com/eB3ZwgIos2
— Kodiak (@KodiakJedi) November 16, 2024
Netflix hasn’t made any mention of these issues or offered any mea culpa in its blog post. Instead it talked up how the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas played host to more than 72 million attendees. However, even those dropping in to offer live commentary struggled with technical issues. As Variety reported, boxing legends Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis were supposed to offer live boxing commentary, as both have matched gloves with Tyson on previous (brutal) occasions. Holyfield couldn’t even hear the questions being put to him.
Maybe we should also take a second to recognize just how silly and pointless the Paul vs. Tyson fight was. You had a 27-year-old influencer face off against a 58-year-old boxer who is obviously well past his prime. The fight was supposed to take place earlier this year, but Tyson faced health issues that forced producers to postpone it until now. Tyson can stand on a legendary (and rather infamous) boxing career, but his last official bout was in 2005. Paul won on points, but at the end, did anybody actually care?
The whole show was just a vehicle for Netflix to show off its properties, for Jake and Logan Paul to promote themselves (Netflix teamed up with the Paul-owned Most Valuable Promotions to put on the event), and for celebrities to mug in front of the camera. The millions of viewers online were presented with an overproduced snoozefest, watching two people who should not be within 50 yards of the ring take swings at each other.
