While X was filled with fans eager to see the beginning of Jake Paul vs. Looking to watch Mike Tyson on Netflix, many complained about buffering and image issues during previous fights, causing disappointment and not being able to keep up with the action.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to X several times during the event to post about the streaming service’s buffering: to write“So the reports are in. #netflix wasn’t ready for this. This cannot be seen.” And “I’m in the classic torture chamber where I can’t tell if my internet keeps going down or if #Netflix is just constantly buffering and no longer available to everyone.”
Sports commentator Skip Bayless also weighed in on the social media platform: to write“I’ve had streaming issues during live action on Netflix – and I’m concerned about freezing and buffering during Paul-Tyson. I think servers just don’t have the bandwidth for the global scale of this.”
Several Variety Employees watching the broadcast also encountered buffering and delay issues.
Meanwhile, “Unwatchable” and “#NetflixCrash” trended on X during various parts of the evening. In the end, the fight lasted all eight rounds and Paul was declared the winner.
Variety reached out to Netflix about the criticism and a spokesperson said the streamer had no comment at this time.
While the fight is the first live sporting event to air on Netflix, there are many more on the horizon, with both the NFL and WWE heading to the streamer. The NFL will debut on Netflix with two games on Christmas Day, and the WWE will head to the streamer on January 6 with the debut of “Raw.”
In April 2023, Netflix hosted its first major live event, a ‘Love Is Blind’ reunion, and there were a lot of problems. After a 90-minute delay, the reunion was recorded and put on the streamer the next day.