Netflix’s streaming issues during the heavily anticipated fight between boxing legend Mike Tyson and Jake Paul were problematic enough that it raised concerns for the NFL ahead of the league’s upcoming games that will be streamed exclusively on the platform on Christmas Day, according to one report.
Buffering issues plagued fans tuning in to watch the historic matchup between one of the sport’s greats and its new up-and-coming boxer on Friday. Social media was flooded with complaints, and a lawsuit was even filed accusing the streaming platform of "breach of contract."
Netflix addressed the issues in a statement Monday.
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"This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers," Netflix executive Elizabeth Stone said. "I'm sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues. We don't want to dismiss the poor experience of some members and know we have room for improvement but still consider this event a huge success."
While company executives might have viewed the event as a "huge success," the user experience was enough for the NFL to reach out with concern.
"The NFL did check in with Netflix following the Tyson-Paul fight to ask about the problems and assess the likelihood that they could repeat themselves on Christmas," ESPN reported Wednesday.
"Netflix said the fight reached 60 million homes, and apparently part of the explanation to the league was that the unprecedented scale for them of broadcasting a live sporting event contributed to some of the challenges they faced."
The report said the league walked away from those talks "reassured that Netflix had figured out what went wrong" and that it would not be an issue for the two games that day.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Kansas City Chiefs at 1 p.m. on Christmas, followed by the Baltimore Ravens at the Houston Texans.
Despite the streaming issues, Friday’s bout did reach several milestones. According to Most Valuable Promotions, the fight had over 108 million live global viewers, making it the most-streamed sporting event ever. It was also the highest-grossing combat sports event in Texas at $18.1 million.
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