Netflix: 60M households watched Paul-Tyson fight
Netflix announced that 60 million households worldwide tuned in for Friday's main event between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
Paul, the 27-year-old YouTuber turned boxing star, cruised to a unanimous decision win over Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, in the eight-round heavyweight bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Most Valuable Promotions, which promoted the event, said the Paul-Tyson fight peaked at 65 million "concurrent streams."
"The boxing mega event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes," Netflix's official X account posted Saturday.
In comparison, Super Bowl LVIII in February averaged 123.7 million viewers across television and streaming platforms.
Netflix added that nearly 50 million households worldwide watched the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Taylor edged out a unanimous decision victory in a thrilling rematch to retain the undisputed women's junior welterweight championship; she beat Serrano by split decision in April 2022.
Their second fight is likely the most-watched professional women's sporting event in U.S. history, according to the streaming giant.
Netflix has 280 million subscribers worldwide.
Most Valuable Promotions said Paul-Tyson set a record for the biggest boxing gate in U.S. history outside of Las Vegas, surpassing $18 million. Approximately 72,300 fans attended the event.
Friday's card was Netflix's first foray into live combat sports, though it didn't go off without a hitch. Thousands of subscribers reported streaming and buffering issues throughout the event, according to the website Downdetector. Paul acknowledged in the ring after his fight that he and Tyson "crashed the site."