Tyson-Paul fight gives Netflix a chance to show it can handle big events with NFL, WWE on horizon

Jake Paul and Mike Tyson aren’t the only ones with high stakes when they square off in the boxing ring on Friday night.

For Netflix, it’s the biggest live sports event to date and an opportunity to make sure it can handle the needs of its audience with the NFL and WWE on the horizon.

The fight between YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul and Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be broadcast worldwide and available to Netflix’s 280 million subscribers at no additional cost.

Netflix will broadcast the match in English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French and German. It was originally scheduled for July 20, but was postponed due to Tyson having a medical episode on a plane and needing time to recover from a stomach ulcer.

Netflix declined multiple requests from The Associated Press for a company executive to discuss expectations for the fight.

JP Morgan Chase analyst Doug Anmuth did not waver in his prediction that this will be the most popular fight of all time. This may be an unrealistic bar, as Muhammad Ali’s four fights have estimated a global audience of one billion.

The current US figure of 4.6 million from the 2015 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao can be reached.

“We believe that Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson could be the most watched boxing match ever, given NFLX’s (Netflix) easy access and large global subscriber base, and should attract subscribers, viewers and advertising dollars.” , Anmuth said in a CNBC Pro. direction of NFLX”.

Netflix has used live sports broadcasts as support for streaming documentaries and series. “Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson,” a three-part docuseries showing the fight card, was the second most-watched show on Netflix Thursday night.

Last November’s Netflix Cup, where F1 drivers were paired with PGA golfers in a match format, drew big names from “Drive to Survive” and “Full Swing,” the March 3 Netflix Slam showcase match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. linked to Point Break and a docu-series about Alcaraz that will air next year.

The NFL chose to partner with Netflix for a doubleheader on Christmas Day because two shows — “Quarterback” and “Receiver” — ranked among the top 10 Netflix shows worldwide.

Most Valuable Promotions is producing Friday’s fight, and CBS will produce two NFL games for Netflix. When “Raw” begins streaming on Netflix on Jan. 5, World Wrestling Entertainment will produce all events.

Netflix will stream “Raw” in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Latin America starting in January, with more countries added as contracts expire. The bigger component, however, is Netflix becoming the provider of all WWE shows and specials outside of the US, as well as the company’s premium live events, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

“Technically, it’s a great run if you do live events. The biggest problem they can have is that you just find yourself in a situation where you have so much volume and viewership that you didn’t have before,” said Patrick Craiks, a media consultant and former Fox Sports executive. . “It could end up being someone who watches NFL games for a period of time. Others are in production and have to worry about operational flow. They know what they are doing.”