The Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight, which brought 65 million households to Netflix and nearly "broke the Internet," served as a trial run for the NFL.
On Christmas Day, Netflix will stream two NFL games: the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Houston Texans hosting the Baltimore Ravens at 4:30 p.m. ET.
While the audience might not rival the fight's numbers, Christmas is Netflix's busiest day of the year. With star-studded performances by Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and Pentatonix planned during the broadcasts, Netflix and the NFL have been closely monitoring the streaming issues that disrupted many viewers’ experiences during the Nov. 15 fight.
When a global broadcast relies on thousands of internet service providers (ISPs), one certainty is that someone, somewhere, will face technical issues. According to streaming industry expert Dan Rayburn, ISPs operate differently, and there’s no universal approach to ensure seamless performance.
“Every single time another person streams for even an extra second, it requires additional capacity,” Rayburn explained to USA TODAY Sports.
Unlike traditional network broadcasts, where the number of viewers—whether one or 10 million—doesn't demand extra infrastructure, satellite technology handles the load effortlessly. Radio and cable TV channels operate similarly.
Netflix, with 282.3 million subscribers across more than 190 countries, expects only a fraction to watch the NFL games. Even so, that fraction could represent a substantial audience, potentially pushing Netflix’s streaming capabilities to their limits.
“The entire purpose of hosting the boxing event was to test for the NFL,” said streaming expert Dan Rayburn, adding that Netflix’s initial plan to schedule the fight in July would have provided more time for preparation.
For comparison, Peacock attracted 16.3 million households during last season’s Dolphins-Chiefs wild-card playoff game, making it the most-streamed sporting event in U.S. history at the time. The Tyson-Paul fight, however, drew four times that audience.
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