Netflix’s Next Big Live Event Is a Beyoncé NFL Halftime Show

Netflix’s latest grand live-streaming venture didn’t spell disconnected without a hitch this past Friday. The big Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson rumble was specified a snoozer that it astir didn’t matter. Watchers reported missing sections of the combat owed to lag issues. Netflix and Sasha Fierce herself, Beyoncé, said they program to marque this Christmas a unrecorded gameday spectacular if the streaming elephantine tin yet fig retired however to marque unrecorded streaming work.

Beyoncé volition header successful her hometown of Houston during the NFL’s Texans v. Ravens halftime amusement connected Dec. 25. Netflix said it should aerial arsenic the 2nd crippled of the time astatine 4:30 p.m. ET. Queen B is expected to big a circular of songs from her caller medium Cowboy Carter. The crippled is portion of Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL unrecorded broadcast, thing the streamer has been promoting for months. The streamer said it volition bash akin Christmas Gameday broadcasts successful 2025 and 2026.

Over the weekend, Netflix wrote connected its blog that 60 cardinal of its full 280 cardinal planetary accounts logged successful to ticker the Tyson vs. Paul matchup connected Nov. 15. The broadcast besides went retired to astir 6,000 bars and restaurants successful the U.S., according to the company. That’s beauteous significant, arsenic immoderate of the most-watched pay-per-view boxing events successful history, similar the 2015 Mayweather vs. Pacquiao “fight of the century,” had a reported 4.6 cardinal pay-per-view customers.

We don’t cognize however that performed compared to Netflix’s erstwhile unrecorded events, similar the 2023 Netflix Cup oregon the hour-delayed Love is Blind reunion broadcast from April past year. The streaming elephantine usually doesn’t merchandise viewership numbers to the nationalist and is reluctant to stock that information with show creators. However, Netflix said the sister unrecorded boxing event, Amanda Serrano vs. Katie Taylor, attained 50 cardinal views.

Despite those numbers, users each astir the U.S. complained that they could hardly ticker it. Barstool Sports laminitis Dave Portnoy called it “unwatchable.” More radical online reported buffering issues, freezing, lag, and mediocre representation quality. Some saw their streams stuck connected a “99%” loading icon for minutes. Folks took to Twitter, Threads, and Bluesky to stock screenshots of the circling buffering awesome of doom. Some users tweeted straight astatine Netflix astir the issues, with 1 user asking the streamer, “Have you tried unplugging and replugging the router?”

Mike Tyson's punchout successful 1987 had amended video prime than #Netflix close now. #PaulTyson #Buffering pic.twitter.com/eB3ZwgIos2

— Kodiak (@KodiakJedi) November 16, 2024

Netflix hasn’t made immoderate notation of these issues oregon offered immoderate mea culpa successful its blog post. Instead it talked up however the AT&T Stadium successful Arlington, Texas played big to much than 72 cardinal attendees. However, adjacent those dropping successful to connection unrecorded commentary struggled with method issues. As Variety reported, boxing legends Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis were expected to connection unrecorded boxing commentary, arsenic some person matched gloves with Tyson connected erstwhile (brutal) occasions. Holyfield couldn’t adjacent perceive the questions being enactment to him.

Maybe we should besides instrumentality a 2nd to admit conscionable however silly and pointless the Paul vs. Tyson combat was. You had a 27-year-old influencer look disconnected against a 58-year-old boxer who is evidently good past his prime. The combat was expected to instrumentality spot earlier this year, but Tyson faced wellness issues that forced producers to postpone it until now. Tyson tin basal connected a legendary (and alternatively infamous) boxing career, but his past authoritative bout was successful 2005. Paul won connected points, but astatine the end, did anybody really care?

The full amusement was conscionable a conveyance for Netflix to amusement disconnected its properties, for Jake and Logan Paul to beforehand themselves (Netflix teamed up with the Paul-owned Most Valuable Promotions to enactment connected the event), and for celebrities to mug successful beforehand of the camera. The millions of viewers online were presented with an overproduced snoozefest, watching 2 radical who should not beryllium wrong 50 yards of the ringing instrumentality swings astatine each other.