timeThe trailer for Netflix’s latest multi-million dollar project opens with dramatic drum beats, the sound of gloves slapping pads and a familiar Brooklyn drawl. “He’s a manufactured killer,” Mike Tyson said, with almost cartoonish relish. “I’m a born killer.”
The camera then cuts to the man he will face in the early hours of Saturday UK time, influencer Jake Paul. “We’re going to war,” predicts Paul, who made his fortune filming pranks such as “I Crashed My Friend’s Car and Surprised Him with a New Car” before turning to the more lucrative field of boxing. “And he’s being eliminated.”
Don’t forget that Tyson is 58 years old and hasn’t fought professionally since he pulled out of a fight with Kevin McBride nearly 20 years ago. In other words, the 27-year-old Paul is relatively a novice and lost to love island Last year it starred Tommy Fury. More than 60,000 fans are expected to flock to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to watch the game in person, with millions more watching online.
But as the pair prepare to fight over eight two-minute rounds for a price tag of more than $20 million (£15.5 million), rumors are swirling that these questions are lingering in the Texas air. Is this just a horrifying pantomime? Or should it be seen as a harbinger of things to come? More interestingly, why would Netflix invest millions of dollars in a conference from the old world of boxing and launch a new YouTube version? Especially when nearly everyone involved in the sport thinks this is a terrible idea.
Barry McGuigan, in his prime 40 years ago, summed up boxing’s unease very eloquently. “I’m 63 years old and Tyson is only five years younger than me,” he told the media observer. “So the idea of him boxing with anyone, even if he’s just a regular guy, is wrong at that age. You are your reputation. That’s what people remember. I remember Mike Tyson as a destruction machine. .
“He’s truly one of the most dangerous heavyweights to ever put on gloves. There’s no question about it. I don’t want people 20 years from now saying, ‘Oh, that’s the guy who had a fake fight with that YouTuber.
McGuigan was generous with Paul, saying he “could obviously box a little bit.” But the stakes are higher for him. “A 58-year-old man shouldn’t be fighting,” he added. “He just shouldn’t. At that age, your boxing resistance always wears off. While we see all these clips of Tyson doing the pads, that’s not true. The real thing is fighting against quality opponents. Confrontation and seeing how you look at that time, you can be sure he won’t do that.
Adam Kelly, president of IMG Media, a global sports marketing agency, put forward a completely different view. Kelly admitted there were doubts but predicted Tyson vs Paul “has the potential to break some of the best ratings ever and become one of the most watched boxing matches of all time”.
Those are strong words, and they carry even more weight considering Kelly was part of the promotion’s 2017 Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight, which took place on pay-per-view and Leading other crossover competitions. In his current role, he also regularly speaks to major sporting events, organizations and broadcasters such as Netflix about the future of sport.
For Kelly, the game is part of how the next generation of us watch sports. The first is through commercial television and advertising. The second comes from pay TV. The third wave is driven by Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Google and YouTube.
“Sports is an important part of the attention economy, and these people are the most effective at converting attention into income,” he said. “So what they can do better than the existing players is make money every time viewers watch.”
In fact, the Tyson vs. Paul showdown is Netflix’s opening before streaming the NFL’s Christmas Day game, next year’s World Wrestling Entertainment event, and potential future live sports events. So how do the likes of Netflix and Amazon compete with Sky’s monthly fees or high pay-per-view fees? “I think one of the challenges facing sports is that direct monetization of fans, in MMA parlance, has been exhausted,” Kelly said. “But in the attention economy, of which movement is a key component, there are many other ways to convert engagement and audiences into revenue for companies.
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“For example, can Amazon convert attention to sports into additional retail opportunities and direct more spending toward online shopping? Can Netflix expand and enhance its already important and growing advertising platform?
As Kelly noted, Netflix’s total subscribers are approaching 300 million households, and its ad-funded lower-cost tier has topped 50 million subscribers. “Looking at their revenue, they believe there’s huge potential to grow in those numbers and they will eventually offer a different model that’s not just charging sports fans more but also bringing in more revenue for the game,” he said. and more income.
“The same goes for other major tech companies. If you put these elements together, you can start to see something that’s not an anomaly. It’s more like an upcoming trend.
“I think we’ll look back on this and think: ‘Okay, this was the moment Netflix exploded in sports,'” he added. “They’re really pushing for it. I think it’s going to be one of the biggest tournaments ever.
Many in boxing remain skeptical. Promoter Eddie Hearn criticized the fight, calling it “dangerous, irresponsible and disrespectful to the sport of boxing” and ticket sales were said to be sluggish. And McGuigan feared the worst when the fight began. “I hope it’s correct and not a bunch of elaborate nonsense,” he said. “I hope that’s true. But if Tyson in his 20s hit Jake Paul, he would have hospitalized him for a week. Not now because he’s an old man.
However, as Kelly points out, the critics had already started before Mayweather fought McGregor. “Boxing fans will tell you that McGregor is a terrible boxer, but I’m in Vegas and it’s exciting and people are getting into the fight in every way,” he said. “I think it will be similar.
“Through that event, we were able to bring together these two superstars from very different audiences. It was the largest pay-per-view global boxing event ever. [behind only Mayeather v Manny Pacquiao] It started a trend where you see misfits, influencers – like Logan Paul, Jake Paul, KSI and others – starting to realize that a lot of people are going to spend money to experience different types of events .
There’s no doubt that things won’t be any different when Tyson returns to the ring. Some will be looking forward to seeing a gruesome knockout from the former heavyweight champion at the end. Others were drawn to Netflix because of its algorithm, or simply because they were curious about what would happen next. As one commenter on the official YouTube trailer put it: “Is this stupid? Yes. Will I watch it? Yes.” The subsequent reaction showed that many others felt the same way.
