Hearts & Minds: What goes a round comes around. Netflix’s Tyson v Paul bout is an old media trick writ large

By any measure it was a success. On Saturday, Netflix put on the boxing match, between former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, 58 and YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul, 27. The heavily promoted bout turned out to be a damp squib, as Tyson was outfought by his much younger opponent. There were technical issues, too, as 120m virtual viewers tried to access the platform. No matter, in marketing terms, it was a triumph - part of a strategy to extend Netflix’s reach.

The fight marked Netflix’s third foray into live sports after last year’s The Netflix Cup, a golf pro-am for F1 drivers, and The Netflix Slam, a tennis exhibition between Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal. The platform will broadcast two NFL games over Christmas and soon begin showing World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw franchise, under a $10bn, five-year deal. It came too, after other live streams, of a comedy show with Chris Rock, the SAG Awards and a ‘roast’ of US football legend, Tom Brady.

It all seems a long way from Netflix’s origins in 1997, as an online movie rental service. That changed in 2007 with the advent of streaming and content creation. Now, the brand appears to be moving in another direction again by plunging into live sports.

While industry commentators are agog, what Netflix is doing is what the media has always done: extending the audience. Tyson versus Paul was aimed at boosting the 70m subscribers to Netflix’s advertising channel. In this case, it was targeting young males, although the age contrast between the pair meant older viewers, who remembered Tyson, were also drawn to watch. 

This feels different because the money involved is huge and the glitzy events are coming thick and fast. It’s the same, though, as a newspaper launching a specialist supplement or a TV network devising a new channel or indeed, any corporate. The marketing analysts have spotted a gap, and it’s one they’re instantly aiming to fill.

The trick is ensuring there is actual demand for the new product. In this, Netflix, despite the glitches, appears to be scoring. Previously, before the tools for measuring audiences became more sophisticated with the advent of digital, papers and broadcasters would very much base their approach on a wing and a prayer – literally, someone senior ‘felt’ there was a need. Possibly, their instinct was supported by some sort of research, which at best by today’s standards, was rudimentary. Media-land is littered with examples of launches that failed to attract sufficient interest. Not anymore.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.