Streaming of the recent fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Netflix caused some problems for viewers. Now, fans are worried that Netflix streaming problems could be an issue for the Christmas Day game between the Steelers and the Chiefs.
Christmas Day Double-Header
Netflix has partnered with the NFL to stream a Christmas Day double-header. The NFL is excited to be the first professional sports league to bring live games to fans around the world. Netflix will stream the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs from Acrisure Stadium at 1 pm. A game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans will follow at 4:30 pm. Both of these matchups will be exciting to watch.
Football fans can wager on these games using their mobile devices and casino apps in states where sports betting is legal. Parx sponsors the Pittsburgh Steelers and offers exclusive fan promotions for players who use its PA sports betting app to place sports bets.
Fans fuming over Netflix problems
Boxing fans were very excited to watch the fight between YouTube influencer Logan Paul and legend Mike Tyson. Social media influencers like Jake Paul can build up a huge number of followers. Anticipation for the fight started building up long before it took place.
The fight was scheduled to start at 11 pm Eastern time, and Netflix started experiencing demand long before this. Widespread outages were reported less than an hour before the match. After experiencing buffering during the undercard bouts, viewers started expressing concern. The fight may have attracted over 100 million live viewers and become the most-streamed sporting event ever but it also created significant technical issues.
According to Downdetector, over 14,000 error reports for Netflix spiked at 8:45 p.m. on Friday. Users were reporting buffering, pixelated images, and audio interruptions. Sports fans and TV commentators shared screenshots on social media of their Netflix screens buffering and crashing.
Jake Paul won a decisive victory over Mike Tyson in the fight and since then, five current or former combat sports champions have called him out. Tyson is 31 years older than Paul but managed to convince fans that he could turn back the clock. He probably generated at least $20 million from this fight.
Concern about the Christmas Day games
NFL fans are saying Netflix has to get any issues fixed before the NFL broadcast on Christmas Day. They are raising concerns about its readiness to stream the upcoming NFL games. These games can draw viewers in the tens of millions. Viewers who experience problems when streaming NFL games may end up having to watch movies for sports fans instead.
Streaming issues can be very frustrating when viewers end up with poor video quality, buffering, or freezing. When fans watch NFL games on Christmas day, this is the last thing they want to experience. Netflix will have to make sure that it can handle the increased demand from massive NFL audiences.
The fact that the Texans and Ravens game will feature Beyonce singing at halftime will increase the challenge for Netflix. The streaming giant will no doubt do its best to make sure that it rises to the challenge. The weeks left for it to fix any challenges are quickly decreasing.
Netflix will also stream NFL games in 2025 and 2026. The deal is set to run for three years and marks a shift in the distribution of live sports content. For the partnership to continue, Netflix will have to pass the test and overcome the problems it experienced in the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight.
