Mike Tyson’s return to the ring delivered a massive audience per Netflix, if one that is difficult to put into context.
Netflix said Saturday that 60 million households around the globe watched Friday’s boxing card headlined by 58-year-old Mike Tyson’s defeat at the hands of Jake Paul, a preliminary figure that is based on its internal estimates. The company said that a more complete viewership figure would be available in the coming days.
The Netflix figure is not comparable to the traditional ratings data reported on this site and others, which is measured by third parties (Nielsen, Adobe Analytics, etc.) and generally limited to viewing within the United States. While even the Super Bowl has never averaged 60 million homes — keep in mind households and viewers are separate measures — the difference in measurement makes any comparison apples-to-oranges at best.
Nor is the figure directly comparable to the pay-per-view buys that have sustained boxing over the past few decades, as Netflix did not sell access to the fight beyond the cost of a base subscription. It may be the case that there is simply no relevant comparison for the figures Netflix released Saturday.
The Tyson-Paul fight was the headliner of a four-fight card that also included the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano women’s lightweight championship, which Netflix said averaged nearly 50 million homes globally.
Netflix did not disclose a U.S.-only figure for either fight, but said that Taylor-Serrano will “likely” rank as the most-watched women’s professional sporting event ever on U.S. television. It should be noted that would exclude events like the NCAA women’s basketball title game, which this year averaged a Nielsen audience of nearly 19 million viewers.
Netflix has rarely aired live events of any kind, and until recently has eschewed advertising — meaning it has had little need for the kind of third-party measurement used by the linear networks. That is starting to change, as the company has reached a deal to have Nielsen measure its Christmas Day NFL doubleheader next month.
