Technical TKO: Tyson Match Hit Technical Snag
Netflix’s foray into live sports programming with Friday evening’s Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match was a disaster.
It will be the NFL’s problem next.
Paul, who showed boxing is more a vanity project than a legitimate career path, and Tyson, who should trade his fight nights for bingo nights, weren’t the only ones to flunk.
Netflix was the biggest loser.
As Deadline noted, “From nearly the start of the undercard bouts… the streamer has been freezing and proving slow to reload.”
“It was not just unwatchable because it was a bad boxing match,” Yardbarker’s Adam Gretz wrote. “It was literally unwatchable because Netflix could not even show it to us.”
Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell and Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan were among several people from across the sports world who were critical of the fight’s poor quality.
Netflix has a little over a month to work out its issues before a potentially massive audience (attempts) to watch a pair of Christmas Day NFL games.
The league should be concerned that the streaming giant’s servers might be unable to handle the influx of visitors.
With two excellent games scheduled, they should draw significant interest.
The Chiefs (9-0) travel to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers (7-2) in the first game, followed by the Ravens (7-3) playing the Texans (6-4) in Houston. Both games could have massive playoff implications. It might also be an indictment of the NFL.
After long forgoing airing games on Christmas Day when possible, the league leaned into it in 2023, and it was a ratings bonanza.
The NFL exploited this interest by selling the game rights separately from the rest of its inventory instead of including them in pre-existing deals with Amazon, ABC/Disney, CBS, FOX and NBC.
Sports Business Journal reported in May that the league made $150 million in the Netflix deal. CNBC notes the league’s current combined media rights deals are worth $111 billion over 11 years.
It’s a three-year contract, so the league cannot unsubscribe even if this year is a flop. The NFL should want its games to be the main talking point, but after Friday’s fiasco, the glitch could steal Christmas.
