There were so many people watching the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight that it broke the streaming service. During the fight, viewers were complaining that they could not access the fight or that the buffering and freezing were causing an unpleasant viewing experience, but that didn’t stop more than 100 million people from tuning in.
According to Netflix, there were 65 million live concurrent streams and 108 million total live viewers tuning in to watch the historic boxing fight.
The co-main event, Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano 2 averaged 74 million live global viewers and is now the most-watched professional women’s sporting event ever in the U.S. with 47 million viewers. Many fans felt that the fight was the highlight of the evening, even over the main event.
The event was also streamed in more than 6000 bars and restaurants in the US, setting the record for commercial distribution of a combat sports event.
Most Valuable Promotions reported “eight-figure” paydays for Paul and Tyson, who went the full rounds with Paul winning unanimously. Taylor and Serrano received “record-breaking” purses, Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said, though no actual figures have been released.
The event made record-breaking gate numbers as well. It made $18.1 million which made it the biggest gate in combat sports history to take place outside of Las Vegas.
Sitting ringside were some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment including Evander Holyfield, Shaq, Sugar Ray Leonard, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Charlize Theron, Joe Jonas, Rob Gronkowski, Anderson Silva, Ralph Maccio and more.
