Netflix is expanding its live sports push with its first foray into boxing. The streamer and Most Valuable Promotions are partnering on Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, a live event that will stream exclusively on Netflix on July 20 across the globe.
The boxing exhibition will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard. Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons,” Paul said in a statement. “Within just two and a half years of founding MVP, we’re about to produce the biggest fight in history, a fight in the biggest NFL stadium in the US, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world – a testament to all we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
Tyson praised Paul and then declared his intention to “finish him” in a statement of his own, saying Paul has “grown significantly as a boxer over the years” before adding “it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT. It’s a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him.”
Netflix is a swell fit for the event as the mega-streamer continues to assert its dominance in the increasingly valuable world of live sports. On the heels of sports docuseries on Formula 1, tennis, NASCAR, the U.S. Women’s World Cup and even Paul himself, the streamer held its first live sports event, the Netflix Cup, in 2023 and hosted its second just last month with The Netflix Slam.
And starting in 2025, Netflix will be the new home of WWE Raw.
All of this while Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox are planning to launch a joint venture sports app that will give consumers access to the sports rights they individually hold (notably NFL and college football games).
