Should Netflix's buffering issues during Tyson-Paul worry the NFL?

Netflix rightfully drew criticism when its streaming broadcast of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight on Nov. 15 was interrupted by buffering issues. Netflix said its viewing audience exceeded 60 million on fight night, citing its own metrics.

Streaming a live event has proven challenging for Netflix in the past. In April 2023, Netflix also experienced issues with its live stream of a "Love is Blind" reunion special, which drew a smaller audience than Tyson-Paul.

History might regard both of these events as mere entrees to the main course: Netflix's Christmas Day NFL doubleheader of Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans. Given the hype around Netflix's entry into the live NFL streaming space, should stakeholders be concerned about a possible repeat of past streaming issues?

"At the end of the day, we kind of go, 'it's Netflix, they're worth a trillion dollars or whatever it's worth, and they're going to figure it out' — but they haven't yet," Andrew Marchand of The Athletic said on the most recent edition of The Varsity podcast with Puck's John Ourand. "They haven't proven they can do it. ... I'm in the 'prove it' kind of situation. Do I have confidence they can figure it out? Yeah, I kind of do. They have smart people. They have a lot of money they can throw at it."

"They're going to have a ton of traffic. I know the NFL has been working with them the whole time," added Ourand. "I suspect it's going to be OK but boy there were so many big problems with that Tyson fight. It does make you arch your eyebrows."

An NFL game is the most reliable source of ratings for each of its broadcast partners — more than scripted television, reality television, and any other live event a network can put on its platform. When airing an NFL game, the bugs need to be ironed out first.

With 20 days remaining before the NFL's debut on Netflix, the world's largest streaming platform still has some concerns to alleviate.

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