Jake Paul and Mike Tyson punched up a record-breaking gate at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, with 72,300 fans in attendance. It led to about $18.1 million US in total revenue, a record for boxing and mixed martial events held outside of Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Netflix saw the fight peak at 65 million concurrent streams, making it the most-streamed global sporting event in history. According to TVision, 56 per cent of all television viewing in the United States between midnight and 1 a.m. ET was to Paul vs. Tyson, which generated an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live viewers globally.
Paul, 27, won a unanimous decision over the 58-year-old Tyson in a sanctioned, modified eight-round fight.
The co-main event featured a women’s title bout rematch, with Katie Taylor defeating Amanda Serrano a second time in a debated outcome. According to TVision, it was the most-watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history with 47 million AMA while averaging an estimated 74 million live viewers globally.
Boxing fans looking to watch Netflix’s livestreamed fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul faced frustrating buffering and delays from the streaming service. With more live sporting events expected to go online, technical issues make some experts wary of rapid growth.
The gate at AT&T Stadium doubled the previous record from Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders in 2021, which reported $9 million US in revenue.
Streaming issues for at-home viewers taking in the historical matchup via Netflix made headlines in the hours that followed Paul’s hands being raised, but all parties connected to the event are also counting their wins in dollars.
“Paul vs. Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2 rewrote the record books, solidifying Most Valuable Promotions as a trailblazer in combat sports,” Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, said in a statement Tuesday. The company, also co-founded by Paul, says it aims to “maximize return for its own events and talent partners” and give fighters more creative control.
“From setting the highest gate outside of Las Vegas in U.S. history for a combat sports event to becoming the most-streamed sporting event in U.S. history, this event is a testament to the global impact of Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, Katie Taylor, Amanda Serrano, and the incredible athletes on this card.”
The event was the No. 1 title on Netflix for the week, with 46.6 million views (total hours viewed/runtime) through Sunday night.
The fight became the most-bet boxing match for multiple sports books, most of which also felt the thrill of victory from a large percentage of bets and handle backing Tyson over the 27-year-old Paul.
