Beyoncé and NFL represent ‘growth vehicle’ for Netflix after Paul-Tyson fight’s technical struggles

Move over, Santa Claus: Beyoncé will be making an appearance in homes this Christmas as part of Netflix’s latest foray into the world of live sports. 

The streaming giant announced that Queen Bey would perform during halftime of an NFL Christmas Day matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans in her hometown of Houston.

The announcement comes two days after Netflix’s livestream of a boxing event featuring a headline bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which was riddled with technical difficulties.

Experts say as streaming companies continue to delve into the world of live sporting events, figuring out a way to successfully broadcast them will be key to growing their subscriber base. 

Technical struggles a ‘lack of foresight’ 

According to the website Downdetector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the main fight. Many users took to social media to vent their frustrations.

The struggles were likely due to a “lack of foresight” on Netflix’s part, according to Michael Naraine, an associate professor of sport management at Brock University.

Naraine said that Netflix knows the number of users who will tune in to the release of a show like Stranger Things, through user behaviour and data collection, and can prepare accordingly. But since Netflix’s engagement with live events is relatively recent, the company “didn’t necessarily anticipate that 60 million people were going to watch.” 

“It’s possible that they were also naive to think that their current existing platform could have held 60 million people from all over the world watching at one singular point in time,” he added.

Naraine said that because of the “lack of foresight or the naiveté … you end up in a situation where people are having buffering issues.”

Despite the struggles, Netflix reported that 60 million households tuned in to watch the Paul-Tyson fight, with a peak of 65 million concurrent streams. 

It’s an important takeaway for Netflix, a company that continues to dabble in the world of live sports. 

If they don’t get “their act together … this could be a problem because sports is the growth vehicle for Netflix going forward and, quite frankly, for all streaming platforms going forward,” said Naraine.

Netflix didn’t respond to CBC News’s request for comment before the publication of this piece. 

Live sports represent a way to ‘grow in the future’ 

Earlier this year, Netflix announced a deal worth more than $6.7 billion ($5 billion US) that would make it the exclusive home of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Raw from January 2025 onward.

Amazon Prime Video’s new National Hockey League broadcast Prime Monday Night Hockey — the league’s first exclusive national broadcast package with a digital-only streaming service in Canada — premiered last month. 

Amazon Prime Video is also working with the NHL in other ways. 

Last month, the platform premiered FACEOFF: Inside the NHL, a docuseries that follows some of the league’s biggest stars at different stages of their careers.

“Behind-the-scenes stuff I think is very smart and popular,” said David Hardisty, an associate professor of marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.

“There’s a lot of people that are hardcore fans and just want more,” he added during a recent interview with CBC News. 

Amazon has also made its presence known on the gridiron. The platform is entering its third season as the streaming home for NFL games on Thursday nights.

Last season, Thursday Night Football averaged 11.86 million viewers, a year-over-year increase of 24 per cent, according to Sports Media Watch. 

Even regional sports networks are entering the world of subscription streaming.

“The name of the game is always growth and where Netflix and other platforms are going to be able to grow in the future is through live sport,” said Naraine. 

In addition to the Ravens-Texans game, Netflix will also stream a match between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day. 

That means Beyoncé may not be the only global superstar gracing screens. Taylor Swift, who is dating Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, has attended several of his games so far this year, and will be done with her Eras tour by Christmas.

Millions of Swifties potentially tuning in represent extra incentive for Netflix to get it right, Naraine said. 

“If the instability of the feed happens when Patrick Mahomes on Christmas Day throws a ball into the end zone and we don’t know if Travis Kelce catches it or not, that’s going to be one of the death knells for Netflix’s growth pathway going forward.”