Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson was already probably the most talked about fights of the yr, and now, it might be probably the most watched fight sports activities occasions in historical past.
On Saturday, Netflix revealed {that a} gorgeous 60 million households tuned into watch Paul defeat the previous heavyweight champion, who was making his return to motion in knowledgeable battle for the primary time in almost 20 years. The 58-year-old Tyson managed to make all of it eight rounds ,but it surely was Paul who finally scored the unanimous resolution victory in the long run.
The occasion additionally produced probably the most-watched girls’s battle in historical past with almost 50 million viewers tuning in for the co-main occasion between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor.
Whereas the viewership numbers have been astounding, Netflix handled streaming points all through the occasion with many customers complaining they have been unable to truly watch the fights because of connection issues. It’s doable that the overall variety of viewers for the historic occasion might have been even larger with out these issues.
Along with the large streaming numbers for the battle, Paul vs. Tyson additionally produced a gate simply over $18 million, which is the very best ever for a fight sports activities occasion in Texas. There have been a complete of 72,300 followers in attendance for the occasion, which occurred at AT&T Stadium in Arlington — the house of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The showdown between Paul and Tyson was the primary boxing occasion to be streamed dwell on Netflix with the battle being made out there at no extra cost to 282 million worldwide subscribers.
Contemplating the large success of this occasion, it’s tough to think about Netflix received’t try to remain within the fight sports activities enterprise shifting ahead.
Netflix only recently inked an enormous 10 yr, $5 billion deal to land WWE’s flagship present Monday Evening Uncooked, which debuts there in January. With the UFC’s broadcast rights cope with ESPN coming to a detailed in 2025, it’s fully doable that Netflix turns into a participant, particularly contemplating the large return on funding with Paul vs. Tyson on Friday.