Could Netflix streaming issues during the big fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Friday portend issues for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day?
The streaming provider hosting the much-anticipated fight between Youtube influencer Paul and two-time unified heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Friday night.
The aging boxing star and social media upstart were not scheduled to take to the ring at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas until 11 p.m. Eastern Time, but Netflix starting to have issues dealing with the demand for its streaming service hours earlier, even before the under-card started at 8 p.m.
Over 14,000 error reports for Netflix spiked at 8:45 p.m. on Friday, with thousands of users reporting errors hours later, according to Down Detector. Users reported video streaming, server connection and login issues.
Netflix has partnered with the NFL to stream regular-season NFL games for the first time this season with a Christmas Day doubleheader between the Steelers and Chiefs from Acrisure Stadium at 1 p.m., followed by the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans at 4:30 p.m.
The games are part of a three-year deal between Netflix and the NFL to broadcast games on Christmas Day. The company is the third network to ink a streaming deal with the NFL. The Amazon Prime has exclusive rights to the Thursday Night Football package, while NBC’s Peacock broadcast a Wild Card playoff game last season. Those deals have come in addition to the league’s arrangements with traditional broadcasters ABC/ESPN, CBS, NBC and FOX. Deals with other streaming companies have mandated an over-the-air option in local markets.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be the first professional sports league to partner with Netflix to bring live games to fans around the world,” NFL vice president Hans Schroeder said in a press release in May. “The NFL on Christmas has become a tradition and to partner with Netflix, a service whose biggest day of the year is typically this holiday, is the perfect combination to grow this event globally for NFL fans.”
The NFL will surely be watching Netflix’s issues during the Tyson-Paul fight. After all, the NFL is doing business on a much larger scale than even the biggest boxing events. The most-watched boxing match on pay-per-view was Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015, at 4.6 million.
Most NFL games draw in the tens of millions. Last year, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders drew $41.8 million eyeballs for a Week 12 regular season game.
Pittsburgh-based fans won’t have to worry about Netflix, as the game will be broadcast locally by KDKA-TV.