Netflix is facing a class action lawsuit from a Florida subscriber left unhappy by the “unwatchable” livestream of the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson boxing match.
Ronald Denton from the Hillsborough County, filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Florida state court, seeking unspecified damages on behalf of consumers who were affected by the constant technical issues during the stream.
The match ended with YouTuber Paul, 27, knocking out heavyweight boxing legend Tyson, 58, with a score of 80-72, 79-73, 79-73. The bout of eight two-minute rounds was Tyson’s first professional contest since the boxer retired in 2005, though he did box Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition match in 2020.
It was billed as one of the biggest and most controversial fights of all time, but several subscribers took to social media to complain about buffering issues on Netflix, which streamed it.
Benton’s suit alleges breach of contract by Netflix as well as violations of Florida’s state laws around deceptive trade practices and consumer protection. The streaming giant, it alleges, was “woefully ill-prepared” to broadcast the match.
“Sixty million Americans were hyped to see ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’, versus YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul. What they saw was ‘The Baddest Streaming on the Planet,’” the lawsuit says, according to USA Today.
“Boxing fans, along with the average Americans wanting to see a legend in what would most likely be his last fight, were faced with legendary problems, including no access, streaming glitches and buffering issues,” it adds.
“Netflix customers experienced massive streaming issues and should have known better because it has happened before. Instead of providing the programming its viewers pay for every month, Netflix was completely unprepared and unable to fix the issues.”
The commentary team for the match was also plagued by audio problems as Evander Holyfield appeared unable to hear presenter Kate Abdo through his earpiece. Jerry Jones had to borrow Michael Irvin’s microphone after his broke.
The fight played out in front of 70,000 fans at AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and millions of viewers at home. According to US viewing numbers from analytics company TVision and Netflix’s first-party data, around 108 million people tuned in to watch the fight worldwide.
Many fans and viewers were left underwhelmed by a fight that was labelled “sad”, with Paul later admitting he “didn’t want to hurt someone who didn’t need to be hurt” and Tyson revealing that he “almost died in June” after a health scare that caused the fight to be postponed.
In April last year, Netflix elected to host the reunion for season four of Love Is Blind live, but struggled with technical issues that led to fans waiting at least an hour for it to begin.
The Independent has reached out to Netflix for a comment.
