The Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson boxing match was a major topic of discussion in 2024, and it has proven to be one of the most-watched fights ever, according to Netflix data.
Netflix revealed viewership figures for the latter half of 2024, highlighting top-performing shows, events, and movies. The Paul vs. Tyson event stood out as a significant success. Broadcast on November 15, it garnered 235.7 million hours of viewing and 48.9 million total views.
This performance placed the Paul vs. Tyson event at number 7 among the most-viewed content on Netflix between July and December 2024.
Adding to its impressive achievement, the Paul vs. Tyson event exceeded the viewership of two NFL games that premiered on Netflix in December as part of a new agreement for 2024.
These two NFL games, broadcast on Christmas Day, ranked within the top 80 most-watched shows, attracting 14.4 million and 14.3 million viewers respectively, totaling 84 million hours watched.
While Netflix is relatively new to producing live events and sports programming, the success of the Paul vs. Tyson fight has generated considerable excitement within the streaming platform for increased investment in this area as they move into 2025.
Paul mentioned that he anticipates his next fight will be on Netflix, following near agreement for a bout with boxing star Canelo Alvarez. However, Alvarez declined the opportunity to fight Paul and instead signed a lucrative multi-fight contract with Riyadh Season, a Saudi Arabian initiative investing heavily in combat sports.
The success of Paul vs. Tyson has also fueled speculation about Netflix potentially bidding for the broadcast rights to the UFC when their deal with ESPN concludes at the end of 2025. The UFC is currently in an exclusive negotiation period with ESPN until April 15, after which they can consider offers from other potential partners, including Netflix.
