When it comes to live sports, Netflix Inc. is prioritizing big events over regular coverage.
Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos pointed to the success of its Nov. 15 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing event, which attracted some 60 million households globally. Sarandos also noted two upcoming NFL games on Christmas and prior events such as "The Tom Brady Roast." Netflix wants to be involved in big moments that excite people and bring them together, Sarandos said.
"I think those moments are rare [and] very, very valuable. So that's why we're kind of leaning into it," Sarandos said. "I don't think a season of sports, the economic challenges aside — every one of those nights is not necessarily an event. And really, I want to focus the live complexity and the live excitement on things that are truly an event."
Sarandos also highlighted Netflix's capacity to reach younger viewers around the world, something that is critical to sports leagues as they look to build new generations of fans.
"They understand what our business is and our model is, and they are very excited to kind of create more bespoke products. They don't have to come from within their league necessarily, but it's a nice one. I think NFL Christmas Day is a good example of that," Sarandos said. "Something that's special, something that's unique ... We can make an event of it, and it could be global and the audience will be much broader than they can achieve anywhere else."
As to the Paul-Tyson fight, which saw a former YouTube sensation take on the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion of the world, Sarandos said excitement was "off the charts," despite the production's technical problems and sound issues.
"We had an enormous live audience, 108 million people watching live," Sarandos said. "You'd have to go back to the 80s to get a live audience that big that wasn't a Super Bowl. It's really phenomenal."
Interest was strong throughout the event, which spanned 5.5 hours. The first undercard match drew some 30 million people, while the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano encounter garnered about 50 million viewers in the US and 74 million globally, Sarandos said, adding that "a lot of records were set that night."
Sarandos said one regret about the fight is that Netflix could have sold more advertising. "We severely undersold that fight," he said. "If we knew the audience was going to be big, we probably would have done [a lot more] selling on that fight."
The company learned its lesson, undertaking strong ad sales pushes ahead of its upcoming NFL Christmas games: the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans.
"Both games are sold out. So we're really excited about that," Sarandos said.
Netflix paid the NFL approximately $150 million, or $75 million per contest, for the rights to the games. The company will also stream at least one holiday game on Christmas Day in 2025 and 2026 as part of a three-season pact.
By comparison, Peacock paid $110 million for a single playoff game last season. That Jan. 13 prime-time football matchup of the Chiefs and Miami Dolphins drew an audience of 23.0 million across Peacock, NBC (US) affiliates in the participating clubs' home markets and on the NFL+ mobile app. At the time, the contest ranked as the most streamed event in US history, according to data from Nielsen Holdings PLC.