• Netflix’s biggest livestream to date was plagued by buffering.
• While the platform says that 60 million tuned in to watch the fight, it hasn’t acknowledged the technical issues that prevented folks from watching.
• An illegal stream on X garnered six million views thanks to Netflix’s technical issues.

Arguably Netflix’s biggest live event to date took place at the weekend as YouTuber Jake Paul entered the square circle with veteran and legend Mike Tyson.

The fight was the headliner for an event with several other matches including Mario Barrios versus Abel Ramos and Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano. We woke up at 3AM on Saturday morning to watch the event and all was well, until around 6AM. At around this time the quality of the stream dipped to the worst we’ve seen since the early 2010s before it gave up the ghost altogether.

Try as we might we could not get the fight stream to load. Queuing up other content on Netflix was fine so after 30 minutes of trying we gave up and returned to our rewatching of House.

Throughout the night commentors reported that millions were tuning in from around the world in anticipation of Paul fighting Tyson but once the main event arrived, we and millions of others were unceremoniously kicked out of our stream. It seemed that instead of seeing two humans knock each other out, we saw Netflix’s infrastructure shatter under the weight of a live stream.

The platform said on Saturday that 60 million households had tuned into the live event. However, the platform made absolutely no mention of the fact that its stream died for many.

60 million households around the world tuned in live to watch Paul vs. Tyson!

The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes. pic.twitter.com/kA8LjfAJSk

— Netflix (@netflix) November 16, 2024

We don’t expect Netflix to comment on its failure at all because in Silicon Valley, failure is seen as contagious and bad for investors. What should worry Netflix though is the fact that an illegal livestream was doing massive numbers.

A person livestreaming the video board at the AT&T Stadium in Texas amassed 6.6 million viewers. While it’s not on par with Netflix’s claimed viewership, it should highlight to Netflix that it needs to invest in better infrastructure if it hopes to continue pushing live sports streams lest it face competition from independent people simply rebroadcasting the stream.

6.6 million watching Antonio Brown streaming the video board in Dallas. Way to go Netflix pic.twitter.com/ORogmb85dd

— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) November 16, 2024

The failure may have triggered PTSD at Netflix with folks recalling the appalling Love is Blind Reunion that the platform hosted in 2023. That event was delayed by what was dubbed a technical glitch though Netflix never shared more beyond that.

We suspect that Netflix will count this as a win though. Considering the interest in the event that saw folks with no interest in boxing tuning in (myself included) Netflix probably saw a mass of new signups ahead of the event. However, the platform is going to have to get its house in order, especially as it pursues other live content.

The next test is a month away

We’re sure that Netflix learned a lot from this event but it doesn’t have long at all to implement these learnings.

The platform is set to host two NFL matches on 25th December between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers as well as Baltimore Ravens versus Houston Texans. The latter will also feature a performance from Beyonce during halftime which is sure to bring a wave of viewers.

The fact that Netflix failed at the weekend doesn’t inspire hope for the two NFL matches next month. While American Football isn’t a sport that’s popular outside of the US, Beyonce is and we’re sure that come half time on Christmas day, another buffering event will take place.

Of course, Netflix could address the technical issues that it experienced at the weekend before then.

All in all, it was a disappointing stream from Netflix and a disappointing fight from Paul and Tyson. Thankfully you can watch the highlights for free, without buffering.