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Netflix has confirmed the first round of viewing figures for the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, with a reported 60 million households tuning in around the world.
There were 65 million “concurrent streams” for the fight, while the gate value “has surpassed $18m”. Overall, the gate value for the bout and the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano “is the biggest boxing gate outside of Las Vegas in US history”,
In addition, Taylor v Serrano 2 was watched by nearly 50 million households, meaning that it “is likely to be the most watched professional women’s sporting event in US history”. There will be more detailed data released in the coming days, including estimations on the total number of viewers.
The fight between 27-year-old Paul and Tyson, 58, had sparked controversy and criticism in the build-up, and this only increased after a fight in which Paul won via unanimous decision, with Tyson only landing 18 punches on the former YouTuber.
Many fans and viewers underwhelmed by a fight that was labelled as “sad”, with Paul later admitting that he “didn’t want to hurt someone who didn’t need to be hurt”, while Tyson also revealed that he “almost died in June” after his health scare that caused the fight to be postponed.
In the co-main event, Irish fighter Taylor earned a controversial win over Serrano, with audible boos at the AT&T Stadium when the verdict of unanimous decision was read out. Nevertheless, many people praised the quality and entertainment of the fight, especially relative to the main event.
Nevertheless, early reports suggest that the event – which was organised and hosted in a joint venture by Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions – was a commercial success, with the gate value being “double the previous Texas gate record for combat sports in both boxing and MMA, topping Canelo Álvarez’s record of $9 million”.
The fight night was the latest in Netflix’s foray into professional sports and live events, with the streaming giant set to broadcast live NFL matches on Christmas Day in their next big event.
