Netflix’s first boxing match, between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, was a big success in terms of live sports coverage. 60 million households worldwide watched it, but Netflix still struggles with streaming.
The historic show of the big streaming service showed both the pros and cons of getting into live sports entertainment. Netflix celebrated the event’s huge reach, even though many watchers had problems with the technology that messed up their viewing.
In a private message, Netflix’s Chief Technology Officer, Elizabeth Stone, talked openly about the service problems. “This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges,” Stone wrote, admitting that while the event was mostly a success, some viewers had trouble with the streaming.
People who watched the famous match said they had many problems, like screens that wouldn’t freeze, scrolling that wouldn’t stop, and system crashes. Netflix admitted to these problems in public, and Stone made it clear that the company doesn’t want to brush off the bad experiences of some users.
The response on social media was a mix of happiness and anger. Netflix made fun of the fact that the event “dominated social media” and “shattered records,” but they also knew that future live shows would need better technical quality.
This boxing match is a big step forward for Netflix as it moves from a standard streaming service to a live events broadcaster. The problems that were encountered show how hard it is to provide live content to millions of viewers simultaneously.
Looking ahead, Netflix will try its live streaming even more with two NFL games on Christmas Day. The first is between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the second is between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans.
As the company continues to add more live shows, being able to run large-scale streaming events will be very important for its growth in the media industry.
