Netflix Sees Huge Boxing Audience Boost

Netflix just released figures for another one of its boxing events, and the numbers are seriously impressive. Last Friday’s fight between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul drew a whopping global audience of 33 million viewers. This info comes straight from Netflix along with data from VideoAmp, a company that specializes in measuring viewership. Unfortunately, Netflix didn’t disclose how many U.S. viewers tuned in, but it’s safe to say the numbers are huge.
These figures don’t quite match up to the last big Netflix boxing event, which saw Terence Crawford face off against Canelo Alvarez in an epic fight that drew 36.6 million viewers. And Jake Paul’s matchup against Mike Tyson last November was a real blockbuster, with a staggering 108 million people tuning in globally.
Now, it’s important to note that Netflix’s boxing viewership estimates are a bit different from what we usually see from Nielsen data on other platforms. For instance, YouTube reported a global audience of 19.7 million for an exclusive NFL game earlier this year, with almost all of those viewers coming from the U.S. In comparison, a recent MLB World Series matchup drew 51 million viewers from the U.S., Canada, and Japan combined.
There’s no denying that boxing seems to be making a major comeback in terms of popularity, and Netflix’s recent numbers prove just that. While it’s hard to directly compare Netflix’s data with what we’re used to from Nielsen, it’s clear that the streaming giant is attracting huge audiences for its boxing content. We’ll have to keep an eye out for more info on how these boxing events stack up against other major sports broadcasts in the future.