According to Netflix, 60 million households worldwide watched Paul-Tyson
Friday night’s showdown between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul apparently caused a major shock around the world.
Streaming giant Netflix said Saturday that 60 million households tuned in live to watch YouTuber and prizefighter Paul, 27, score a unanimous decision over Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight peaked at 65 million concurrent streams.
Additionally, Netflix said 50 million households worldwide watched the co-main event, where Katie Taylor retained her undisputed women’s lightweight championship with a controversial unanimous decision win over Amanda Serrano. That number would likely make it the most-watched women’s professional sporting event in United States history, according to Netflix.
Netflix said additional information, including total viewership, would be released in the coming days. Netflix has 280 million subscribers worldwide.
Traditional ratings are typically compiled by a third-party source such as Nielsen.
The card marked the company’s first attempt at streaming a live sporting event, and it wasn’t seamless.
According to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers reported glitches or streaming issues in the lead-up to the fight, prompting many viewers to take to social media to express their frustrations on Friday evening.
“The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records and even strained our buffer systems,” Netflix said on Saturday.
While the showdown between Taylor and Serrano proved to be the fight of the night, Tyson’s return to the ring had millions of viewers logging into Netflix on Friday night.
Tyson and Paul thanked them a day later.
“This is one of those situations where you lost but still won,” Tyson wrote on social media. “I’m grateful for last night. No regrets getting in the ring one last time. I almost died in June. Had 8 blood transfusions. I lost half my blood and 25 pounds in the hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight, so I won.
“For my kids to see me stand toe-to-toe and finish eight rounds with a talented fighter half my age, in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy Stadium, is an experience no one has the right to ask for. Thanks you do.”
Tyson suffered a flare-up of a stomach ulcer on an airline flight this summer, forcing him to postpone a fight originally scheduled for July 20.
Paul thanked Tyson for taking the fight.
“Thank you to every fighter on the card last night, thank you Netflix, thank you Jerry Jones, thank you to my MVP team, thank you to the legend Mike Tyson for giving me the opportunity to share the ring with him, thank you to my family and close circle of friends…and most of all, thank you God,” he wrote.
Netflix will air two NFL games on Christmas Day and begin streaming WWE “Raw” on January 6.
Nielsen said the Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in last season’s Super Bowl averaged 123.7 million viewers across TV and streaming platforms, making it the most-watched program in television history.
This report used information from The Associated Press.