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Netflix’s Chief Technology Officer Breaks Silence On Paul vs. Tyson Fight

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Nov 18, 2024 9:00 AM ET

Friday's fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson didn't go as smoothly as Netflix would have liked.

Netflix said 60 million households watched the exhibition match between the popular YouTuber and 58-year-old icon. While nobody should have been surprised to see an uninspiring in-ring product, the stream also ran into constant roadblocks. Considerable buffering and connection problems created a subpar experience for many viewers.

Per Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Netflix Chief Technology Officer Elizabeth Stone addressed the streaming issues in an internal message to employees.

"This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers," the memo read. "I'm sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues. We don't want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success."

This isn't Netflix's first live-streaming fiasco. The platform issued an apology after a Love Is Blind reunion episode went poorly last year.

The Netflix Cup golf event (Netflix's live-streaming sports debut) and roast of Tom Brady didn't suffer the same technical glitches, but neither live event drew such a vast audience.

Netflix won't have much time to work out these issues and deliver a better experience. The platform will exclusively stream two NFL games on Christmas Day.

During Friday's fight, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones touted Netflix as an important future partner with the NFL. However, his microphone wasn't working during the interview, and the stream went out.

WWE is also moving Monday Night Raw to Netflix in January. According to Fightful Select (via Wrestling Inc), a WWE official said it'd be a "good problem" if the company's weekly flagship show received as much traffic as Friday's fight.

The NFL may have more cause for concern. The Athletic's Richard Deitsch speculated that Friday's events "spooked league officials a bit."

"There is money and reputation at stake, and you don’t get a second chance at a first impression," Deitsch wrote. "Both entities will be crushed by NFL fans if Christmas brings buffering and dropped streams."

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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