Netflix Stock Rises After Paul-Tyson Fight Draws in Millions of Viewers | Global News Avenue

Netflix deemed last week’s showdown between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson a success. The streaming giant is still in the early stages of courting sports fans, with its next big date coming this holiday season.

Netflix (NFLX) co-CEO Ted Sarandos said it hopes to capture competition that could become an “event.” It also wants to avoid expensive contracts with sports leagues. To this end, the company has so far hosted a live broadcast hot dog eating contest and a golf tournamentwith more events on the way.

Netflix touted Paul’s fight with Tyson as a record-breaking one, even though some of its milestones were achieved off-screen and viewers complained about streaming glitches. (Netflix declined to comment on viewers who complained on social media about spotty streaming.) Netflix’s next show for sports fans will be released on Christmas Day. two NFL games.

“We do live streaming because our members love it,” Sarandos said in July. “It brings a lot of engagement and a lot of excitement.”

“Advertisers like that too,” he added.

AT&T Stadium, which pulled in $18 million in admissions for Friday’s event, is the second-largest boxing “gate” outside of Las Vegas and the largest in Texas, according to Netflix . Netflix said its distribution partner Joe Hand Promotions is showing the event in more than 6,000 bars and restaurants, the broadest combat sports audience in Joe Hand’s 50-year history. Ratings for the Paul vs. Tyson boxing match peaked at 65 million.

That likely boosted Netflix’s stock price on Monday. The stock has recently gained more than 2%, outperforming the market, and earlier hit a record high.

The entertainment group has about a month to prepare for its next foray into live sports. Sarandos said showing two football games on Christmas Day is part of Netflix’s strategy to not give sports leagues the upper hand in negotiations.

“It’s very difficult to get major league sports and profits when you offer them a full season,” he told analysts in July. But when you make them available in this activity model that we’re building, we’re really excited to be able to do that without risk. ”

Still, Netflix found a way to do the math for a full season. raw, WWE wrestling show and the highest ranked show on USA Network. raw will move from broadcast to Netflix in January, the company said in a press release.