Netflix takes a big swing into live sports with Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight

About 2½ years ago in Costa Rica, YouTube star-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul had a vision.

Paul says that during an ayahuasca ceremony, he saw himself fighting former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, with millions of kids watching the match on their TVs and devices.

On Friday, that dream will become a reality, in Netflix’s first live-streamed, professionally sanctioned boxing match. The bout is by far the Los Gatos, Calif.-based streaming giant’s biggest sports event yet, and will probably be its highest-profile effort in live streaming to date.

It marks a milestone for Netflix’s efforts to expand its live programming as it tries to boost its growing advertising business. Netflix — best known for shows including “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things” — recently said its cheaper ad-supported tier reached 70 million monthly active users, up from 40 million in May. Live events are crucial for drawing millions of eyeballs at once, which is what advertisers want.

Analysts will be closely watching how many of Netflix’s 283 million global subscribers tune in to the Paul vs. Tyson match, which pits the 27-year-old content creator against the 58-year-old hard-hitter. Major boxing events are typically showcased more exclusively, often through pay-per-view or sports streaming services.

“With Netflix, a lot of our appeal lies in the distribution and reach that we have globally,” said Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of nonfiction series and sports. “[I]t’s an awesome opportunity where everybody in the world can tune in at the exact same time and have the exact same experience, watching the exact same fight collectively.”

Netflix began streaming live events last year. The effort kicked off with “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” Rock’s first live comedy special after being slapped by actor Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. Rock’s special has drawn more than 23 million views to date.

The streamer has hosted multiple live programs since, including tennis and golf exhibition matches, a Tom Brady comedy roast, a hot dog eating competition and the SAG Awards. On Christmas Day, Netflix will stream two NFL games.

The event featuring the Paul-Tyson fight, taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, is a partnership between Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions, a company that Paul co-founded. There will be three fights on the preliminary card starting at 2:30 p.m. and four more fights on the main card starting at 5 p.m., with Paul vs. Tyson as the finale.

The event was originally planned for July 20 but was rescheduled to Nov. 15 after Tyson had an ulcer flare-up.

Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, said the hope is that tens of millions of people tune in to Netflix for the fight. Bidarian expects in-person ticket sales will generate more than $16 million.

“There’s going to be a massive audience that’s going to see our brand … putting on this once in a lifetime event, and that’s going to create a lot of brand value for us going forward,” Bidarian said.

The idea for Paul to fight live on Netflix came after he worked with the streamer on a documentary about his life. That movie, “Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child,” landed in the top 10 films on Netflix in 20 countries for one to two weeks in 2023, according to the streamer’s data.

Of the potential opponents brainstormed for Paul, Netflix was most interested in Tyson, a big name who could draw longtime boxing fans and viewers outside the sport.

“Between the nostalgia and multigenerational appeal in terms of their respective core fan group, we were reaching as wide of an audience as possible,” Riegg said.

Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions declined to reveal the financial terms, though Bidarian said Tyson and Paul are each being paid in the eight-figure range.

To promote the event, Netflix released a documentary series titled “Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson,” which goes into the backgrounds of the fighters and showcases their preparation for the bout.

“If this boxing match works, you will for sure see us chase other opportunities like this,” Riegg added.

Paul, who grew up in Ohio, originally became famous on YouTube for his disruptive antics. He went pro as a boxer in 2020 and has since knocked out opponents such as former basketball player Nate Robinson. The Tyson fight could significantly expand his profile.

“It’s within me to be a fighter, to be a disruptor, to be someone who will do the thing that nobody else will,” Paul says in “Countdown.”

Tyson, meanwhile, is one of the sport’s all-time greats, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion at 20. He had a run of 37 consecutive wins, including 33 by knockout. He has also appeared in movies such as “The Hangover” and “Ip Man 3.”

Sports have been attractive for streaming services, and tech companies have been spending big to get them because of the audience and advertiser appeal. Amazon Prime Video is the home for NFL’s “Thursday Night Football” and Apple has MLB’s “Friday Night Baseball” games. Amazon also recently scored a deal to stream a package of NBA games.

“When you have constant new content coming, it really does help them reduce churn,” said Jeffrey Wlodarczak, chief executive of Pivotal Research Group. “They’re trying to have content for different demos.”

Buying sports rights can be incredibly expensive, and some analysts are skeptical about the rewatchability of certain games. Netflix executives have stressed that when choosing sports programming, it has to make financial sense for the company.

After all, there is precedent for using boxing to draw subscribers. Airing fights helped boost the growth of HBO, which used the draw of the sport to expose viewers to its shows and movies.

“The logical fit for boxing and HBO can certainly apply to Netflix,” said Brett Sappington, principal analyst at insights and consulting agency Sappington Media. “I can certainly see the parallels.”