After the debacle surrounding the streaming of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight over the weekend, one Netflix subscriber is taking legal action against the company.
A lawsuit filed in Florida by Ronald ‘Blue’ Denton accuses Netflix of ‘breach of contract’ for constant glitching and buffering during the fight last week, according to TMZ.
In a statement released by the company, Netflix acknowledged the poor quality of its stream during the highly-anticipated bout.
‘This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers,’ said Netflix executive Elizabeth Stone.
‘I’m sure many of you have seen the chatter in the press and on social media about the quality issues.
‘We don’t want to dismiss the poor experience of some members and know we have room for improvement but still consider this event a huge success.’
Netflix is being sued by a subscriber over the poor quality of the Tyson-Paul fight stream
The streamer revealed on Tuesday that last Friday’s fight drew 108million global viewers – making it ‘the most-streamed sporting event ever.’
Netflix added that viewership peaked at 65million concurrent households in the United States – and that about 56 percent of all TV viewership in the country was tuned into the Tyson-Paul bout between midnight and 1:00am Eastern Time.
Additionally, the co-main event between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano drew 74million live global viewers – making it the most watched professional women’s sporting event in American history.
But despite these numbers, at least 85,000 viewers reported problems, according to Detector.
The technical issues didn’t stop on the customer’s end. The broadcast itself had a number of problems as well.
At one point, a panelist of fighters – including Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield – couldn’t hear questions from host Kate Scott.
Lewis ended up having to repeat those questions into Holyfield’s ear.
Later in the broadcast, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had his microphone cut out – forcing to him borrowing another one from one of his former players, Michael Irvin.
The streamer is set to broadcast an NFL doubleheader during the upcoming Christmas holiday
The signs aren’t that great for Netflix – which is set to broadcast its first NFL game over the holidays.
Netflix will broadcast a double header on Christmas Day – featuring the Kansas City Chiefs vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens vs. the Houston Texans.
Fans have already begun fearing the worst for those streams – with radio host Howard Stern addressing it on his show.
‘You know, I don’t how this stuff works, but you gotta make sure it works. … But if you f— up people’s football, there’s gonna be hell to pay,’ Stern said.