Friday was a record-breaking night for Netflix, the streaming giant announced in a press release Saturday.
The company said “60 million households” watched the highly-anticipated Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight live. Netflix said it reached “50 million households” with its co-main event bout between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor.
The company said additional viewership information, including total viewers, will be released this week.
Netflix claimed that the co-main event was likely “the most watched professional women’s sporting event in US history,” and that the Tyson-Paul gate surpassed $18 million with 72,300 in attendance at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, topping Mexican professional boxer Canelo Álvarez’s $9 million gate at the venue in 2021.
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However, many watchers of the fight claimed that high viewership caused the Netflix livestream to crash. Some took to social media to vent their frustration, with one person likening the quality of the feed to a 2006 video game.
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The apparent bandwidth issues have viewers concerned about another major sporting event scheduled for Christmas.
Netflix is set to make its NFL broadcast debut with a doubleheader on Dec. 25, when the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers square off before the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.
In response to the event’s buffering issues and in light of the future streaming plans of the company, OutKick’s Clay Travis posted on X, “This is a disaster for Netflix. They have no chance of successfully airing a Chiefs-Steelers Christmas Day NFL game based on this performance.”
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Tyson, 58, who went the slated eight rounds with the 27-year-old Paul, also took to X to post his reflection on his match loss Friday night, writing: “This is one of those situations when you lost but still [win]. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in the ring one last time.”
Netflix did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
