Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson Fight: Netflix Draws Criticism for Buffering, Freezing and Lagging During Live Event

While X was filled with fans eager to watch the start of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson on Netflix, many were complaining about buffering and image issues during earlier fights, causing disappointment and an inability to keep up with the action.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy took to X several times during the event to post about the streaming service buffering, writing, “So the reports are in. #netflix wasnt ready for this. This is unwatchable,” and “I’m in the classic torture chamber where I cant tell if my internet keeps going out or whether #netflix is just constantly buffering and unwatchable for everybody.”

Sports commentator Skip Bayless also weighed in on the social media platform, writing, “I’ve been having streaming issues during live action on Netflix — and I’m dreading freezing and buffering during Paul-Tyson. I guess servers just don’t have the bandwidth for the worldwide magnitude of this.”

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Several Variety staffers watching the broadcast also ran into buffering and lagging issues.

Meanwhile, “Unwatchable” and “#NetflixCrash” were trending on X during different parts of the evening. Eventually, the fight went on for all eight rounds and Paul was declared winner.

Variety reached out to Netflix about the criticisms, and a spokesperson said the streamer had no comment at this time.

Although the fight is the first live sporting event to air on Netflix, there are plenty more on the horizon, with both the NFL and WWE headed to the streamer. The NFL will debut on Netflix with two games on Christmas Day, and the WWE will head to the streamer with the debut of “Raw” on Jan. 6.

In April 2023, Netflix hosted its first major live event, a “Love Is Blind” reunion, and hit many snags. After a 90-minute delay, the reunion was taped and put on the streamer the next day.