Looks like the boxer’s funeral can wait! On November 15, Netflix hosted not one, but two high-profile fights, headlined by Jake Paul vs. the legendary Mike Tyson and co-headlined by Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor.
The result? A whopping 1.43 million new subscribers, according to data company Antenna. That small number (or large, depending on your perspective) marks the biggest single-day subscriber acquisition event Netflix has seen since at least 2019.
For the Paul-Tyson fight of Netflix, Antenna observed 1.43 million subscribers in a period of 3 days. Regular large peaks in acquisitions related to programming are common with many streamers, but not so for Netflix which typically has a stable rate of subscriptions with minimal daily variance. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/Xnw6cBjwjo
— Antenna (@AntennaData) December 16, 2024
Jake Paul and Mike Tyson: The Circus Main Act
Sure, it was a show — Jake Paul, the social media bruiser, and Mike Tyson, the living legend who probably shouldn’t be fighting in 2024. Call it what you will, but it drew viewers. The event reached 108 million eyeballs in 60 million homes worldwide. Dead sportright? It seems like Netflix knows exactly what people will tune into, even if it won’t admit it publicly.
Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor: The Undercard That Wasn’t
While the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson match grabbed all the headlines, the co-main event – Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor – quietly collected 75 million global viewers. Not bad for an “undercard”. Apparently, women’s boxing isn’t just surviving, it’s thriving! It’s almost as if Netflix thought: “Why not play in two battles at once? If one fails, the other could cover.” Spoiler alert: both succeeded!
Streaming Chaos meets record numbers
We won’t spoil it: the stream was a mess for some viewers. Frozen screens, buffering and technological glitches got thousands of grunts louder than a ringside screen.
The march towards more live sports
With 282 million subscribers already in the bag, you’d think Netflix wouldn’t bother wooing new people. But big brass has discovered a new golden goose in live sports. How convenient. Next up on the streamer’s grand schedule are two exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day. If you thought the boxing fiasco was a major subscription magnet, wait until Netflix airs prime-time football. This pivot in the sport is about as subtle as a heavyweight’s knockout punch.
A “Dead” Sport, Resurrected Just in Time
For years, cynics have praised boxing, saying that it does not have the public, the hype, or glam. But in a world where YouTube personalities take on old pros, apparently 1.43 million new sign-ups say otherwise. One can’t help but admire the neat synergy: Netflix boasts “unprecedented” numbers while selling the next big event, and boxing gets a convenient PR jolt.
So, is boxing really dead? Netflix sure hopes not. They rely on the sweet science that fuels big paydays and even bigger membership increases. Whether or not those 1.43 million newcomers stick remains to be seen, but for now, the streamer is treating those metrics like the second coming of Ali vs. Frazier. Cynics might roll their eyes, but Netflix? Add new subscribers.
