By Priscilla Jepchumba

Netflix announced that its live stream of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight attracted a record 60 million households worldwide.

Despite receiving mixed reviews from fans, the event turned out to be a huge success for the streaming platform. The co-main event, featuring Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, also drew a sizable audience, potentially setting a record for the most-watched women’s sporting event in U.S. history.

The platform, which has nearly 300 million subscribers in nearly 200 countries, had promised viewers a live broadcast of four action-packed fights, with the evening’s finale featuring a clash between the boxing legend Tyson and controversial YouTuber Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. .

Jake Paul beat former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in Texas, with Netflix revealing it was a “record-breaking” night for boxing audiences.

YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul, 27, claimed victory via unanimous decision over former world heavyweight champion Tyson. The 58-year-old was competing in his first professional fight in 19 years.

Regardless, Netflix, which worked in conjunction with Most Valuable Promotions, claims that in addition to the roughly 70,000 inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, they saw 65 million “streams simultaneous” for the fight from 60 million homes worldwide, while the door value “exceeded $18 million (£14.2 million).

The streaming service called its first attempt at broadcasting a live sporting event a “record-breaking night,” even though the viewing experience wasn’t exactly what people at home were hoping for. They say this because overall, for the value of the main and co-main event combined, it is “the largest boxing gate outside of Las Vegas in United States history” .

The co-main event bout between Irish lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Puerto Rican featherweight champion Amanda Serrano attracted viewers from nearly 50 million households.

Taylor controversially won by unanimous decision, with all three judges’ scorecards reading 95-94, 95-94 and 95-94 in her favor. The crowd responded with boos, although the quality of this fight was praised much more than the other.

The fight “is likely the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history,” marking this latest success for Netflix, which is expected to continue live sports coverage when broadcasting NFL games at Christmas.