The only thing worse than the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul “fight” on Friday Night was the constant buffering issues by Netflix in its first foray into streaming live sports. With the streamer set to deliver the Steelers-Chiefs and Ravens-Texans Christmas Day games this year, it was more than a little concerning to see just how bad Netflix handled the live event. Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, the NFL had a “check in” with Netflix following the fight about its streaming problems, but the NFL left the conversation “reassured” that Netflix had figured out its issues.
“The NFL did check in with Netflix following the Tyson-Paul fight to ask about the problems and assess the likelihood that they could repeat themselves on Christmas. Netflix said the fight reached 60 million homes, and apparently part of the explanation to the league was that the unprecedented scale for them of broadcasting a live sporting event contributed to some of the challenges they faced,” Graziano wrote in his weekly news and notes column. “But the NFL came away from the conversations reassured that Netflix had figured out what went wrong and that it won’t be a problem for Chiefs-Steelers or Ravens-Texans on Dec. 25.”
It’s a little concerning to hear that Netflix thought that 60 million homes for a fight featuring Mike Tyson was an “unprecedented scale,” and with the NFL the most popular sport in America, the two Christmas Day games are going to be streamed across the country and, really, across the world. It’s a good sign that Netflix is confident it figured out its issues and assured the NFL, but then again, Netflix is paying the NFL $150 million just to air these two Christmas Day games. The league is going to get its money regardless, so of course NFL executives will be “reassured” that whatever Netflix tells them is accurate.
Maybe I’m just a cynic, but I’m in the camp where I need to see it to believe it. While Netflix is immensely popular, the Tyson-Paul fight showed that it didn’t account for the number of people watching the same event. A lot of people may watch shows and movies when they release on Netflix.
Still, the load of users watching at one time probably is never as high as it will get for its live events. Buffering issues during live events are also a lot more damaging than if they happen during Netflix’s normal, non-live entertainment programming. And given the perpetual issues on Friday night that made Netflix the laughingstock of social media, I just have a hard time seeing things being completely fixed by Christmas.
If streaming issues remain, don’t be surprised to see more than a few tables flipped around the Pittsburgh area. Although, depending on how Pittsburgh’s defense contains Patrick Mahomes, that could happen anyway.
