Netflix slams Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight over ‘streaming quality issues’
Boxing fans were outraged by Netflix’s live stream of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight in Texas on Friday over a series of technical issues that appeared to worsen as the evening wore on.
Fans on both sides of the Atlantic had to deal with poor picture quality, prolonged buffering and spotty audio during Friday’s undercard. Meanwhile, hundreds online complained about error messages, while ‘#unwatchable’ started trending on X.
And according to Downdetector, which tracks online outages, more than 80,000 customers experienced problems at 10:35 PM New York time on Friday.
“Netflix is tricking everyone into watching a fight that they have no idea how to technically support,” one critic wrote on X.
“Well, look on the bright side,” someone joked. “There’s nothing like Netflix to bring the country back together after a divisive election. Looks like we’re all on the same side tonight.”
Fans were unimpressed with Netflix’s performance during Friday’s fight in Texas
Many viewers were confronted with an error message during Friday’s fight on Netflix
There were even problems for those on the broadcast – with boxing legend Lennox Lewis (L) having to shout questions from Kate Scott into Evander Holyfield’s (R) ear
The frustrations extended beyond the livestream.
There were also problems for those present at the broadcast. Kate Scott, who was handling hosting duties, was overheard asking the producers ‘where are we’ as people on the desk struggled to hear each other.
And it wasn’t just Scott who had problems. Tyson’s former rivals Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield also struggled to hear each other.
At one point, Lewis asked Holyfield if he expected Tyson to bite Paul’s ear, like Iron Mike did in the 1997 rematch of “The Real Deal.” The problem was, Holyfield couldn’t hear Lewis, and by the time If he did, the conversation went in a different direction.
And when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came along, things only got worse as the billionaire’s microphone went in and out as he tried to tout Netflix as a future NFL partner.
“Jerry Jones says Netflix is a big part of the future of the NFL, on a microphone that doesn’t work and less than a minute later the stream goes out,” one fan commented.
Later that evening, after the fight between Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos, during an interview with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, his microphone cut out. Jones was forced to borrow former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin’s microphone to give his answer.
The mistakes did not go unnoticed and many fans complained about the problems on social media.
Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote, “Holyfield can’t hear Kate Scott, so Lennox Lewis yells questions at him like you would your grandfather.”
‘#PaulTyson, this production is so bad. terrible. @netflix,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Netflix is experiencing a few technical problems. Sheesh,” said another user, while another called it “PITIFUL.”
Another wrote: ‘@netflix there is absolutely NO WAY this should be frozen and ruined like this with as much money as you scam us per month. There must be at least TWO months off, because that’s really not possible!’
“If Netflix doesn’t fix this buffering problem, it will go down as one of the biggest failures in all of TV/streaming history,” read another post.
Dana Beers of Barstool Sports wrote, “Good heavens, this Netflix stream is an absolute disaster.”
Those who tuned in to watch the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight faced Netflix streaming issues that prevented thousands of people from watching the undercard of the fight before the main event
Millions have already been raised before Tyson and Paul faced each other in the ring in Dallas
This fight has had issues throughout the year – the fight was initially scheduled for July 20 before being rescheduled for Friday night after Tyson experienced medical issues.
But it seems that regardless of the outcome, the event will be labeled a success in terms of money raised.
As revealed by Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) ahead of Friday’s heavyweight fight in Arlington, Texas, Tyson-Paul has generated more than $17.8 million at the gate to become the biggest box office hit in the United States outside Las Vegas .
In addition, Tyson-Paul almost doubled the previous record in Texas, when Mexican Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defeated Brit Billy Joe Saunders at the same venue, AT&T Stadium, in 2021.
And aside from a 2016 UFC fight between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez in New York, Friday’s fight card has recorded the highest gate of any American combat sports event outside Las Vegas.
MVP, which is co-owned by Paul, expects more than 70,000 visitors to the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The location has a total capacity of 80,000 people.
