Netflix says 60m households watched fight

Netflix says 60 million households worldwide tuned in live to see Mike Tyson take on Jake Paul, in the streaming giant’s first foray into live boxing.

The event, which was free for subscribers, is being hailed by the tech giant as a “record breaking night”.

However, fans hoping to watch have expressed their anger and disappointment after some reported Netflix crashed repeatedly throughout the fight.

But there was also criticism from those who were able to tune in, with many saying they found the boxing match lacklustre.

In the bout, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, former world heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, was beaten by YouTuber-turned-fighter Paul, 27.

The fight attracted a huge amount of media coverage. Tyson is one of the most famous boxers on the planet, while Paul drew in a younger audience.

There was a star-studded ringside audience including Charlize Theron, Ralph Macchio, Joe Jonas and Hasan Minhaj.

Paul says 120 million viewers watched it live globally on Netflix, while the tech firm later stated “60 million households” around the world tuned in. It said it will reveal further viewing figures early next week.

But some viewers reported experiencing buffering issues on the site, and some said they simply couldn’t get onto it.

The fight was “unwatchable,” wrote one X user. Another said she was “furious”, while a third complained he “did an all-nighter for nothing”.

Netflix declined to comment on the technical glitches.

Brendan Ashford, who lives in Devon, told BBC News he stayed up late to watch the fight, which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time.

“I was interested to see how Mike Tyson, at 58, would perform against a much younger guy,” he said.

“I’m not in the habit of staying up late, but I thought it was worth it.”

He tried signing in on Netflix at around 04:00 GMT, and says initially it loaded 25%, and then it got to 75%, but after that it got stuck.

“I knew I had a good connection, so then I looked on social media and saw others were also experiencing issues,” he said.

“It was really disappointing. I kept trying for a good hour before I gave up.”

Mr Ashford said it made him wonder how Netflix would fare with future live sports events, given the problems people encountered this time.

“It can’t be good for their reputation,” he said.

On social media, there was a similar reaction from fans, who vented their frustrations.

Many also posted pictures and videos of the fight failing to load, while some said the service failed at the key moments during the event.

“Had all my friends over to watch the Tyson vs. Paul fight. Not loading,” wrote one X user.

“Shame on Netflix for not being able to handle the streaming of the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight,” wrote another.

“The lagging is so bad the fights are unwatchable to long time subscribers like me and other people I know at home with friends, family, snacks, and drinks but no fights.”

Another person simply asked, “did Netflix not have enough time to prepare for the Tyson / Paul fight?”

This isn’t the first time Netflix has had issues with live streaming.

Last year, it apologised after a much-publicised livestream of its hit dating show, the Love is Blind reunion, was delayed due to a glitch.

The technical reason for the delay was unclear but the streaming giant said it was “incredibly sorry”.

No reason has been given for these latest issues, but Chris Stokel-Walker, a tech reporter, said that the huge demand to watch the fight was “Netflix’s undoing”.

“Netflix has done live broadcasting before,” he said.

“What’s different, was that this fight was so hyped.

“There were so many viewers that were wanting to watch this, given the personalities involved – Jake Paul with his huge following, Mike Tyson returning to the ring for the first time in decades.

“Even people who aren’t major boxing fans wanted to tune in because of all the coverage.

“As a result, there was additional demand well above and beyond your average live event, like a comedy special, or the live golf tournament they previously broadcast.”

Mr Stokel-Walker said that with Netflix intending to move towards more live sports in future, including a new deal with WWE from next year, it “needs to get this fixed”.

“They have to expect that if they’re going to get into this world, they’re going to have to get used to this volume of people coming,” he said.

“The Tyson vs Paul fight was one of the most high profile examples of an event they’ve done live, so it’s really not ideal.

“People will be watching this and wondering can they cope.”

Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly.