The trailer for Netflix’s latest multimillion-dollar venture begins with a dramatic drumbeat, the sound of a glove hitting a pad, and a familiar Brooklyn accent. “He’s a manufactured killer,” Mike Tyson says with a hint of cartoonish relish. “I am a natural-born killer.” The camera then shifts to the man he will face in the early hours of Saturday UK time, the influencer Jake Paul. “We’re going to war,” Paul predicts, having made his fortune from pranks like “I Sunk My Friend’s Car And Surprised Him With A New One” before pivoting to boxing. “And he’s getting knocked out.”
Ignoring the fact that Tyson is 58 and has not fought professionally in nearly 20 years, or that Paul, 27, is a novice who lost to Tommy Fury last year, more than 60,000 fans are expected to attend the fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with millions more streaming it online. As the two men prepare for eight two-minute rounds, reportedly for over $20m each, questions hang in the Texas air. Is this just a grim pantomime? Or a sign of things to come? And why is Netflix investing millions in this clash between boxing’s old guard and its new YouTube iteration, especially when almost everyone in the sport thinks it’s a bad idea?
Barry McGuigan, who was at his peak 40 years ago, articulates boxing’s unease. “I’m 63 and Tyson’s only five years behind me,” he tells the Observer. “So the idea of him boxing any guy, even if he’s just average, is just so wrong at that age. You are your reputation. That’s what people remember. And I remember Mike Tyson as a wrecking machine. He was one of the most dangerous heavyweights ever. I don’t want people to say in 20 years: ‘Oh, that’s that guy that had that sham of a fight with that YouTuber.’”
McGuigan is kind to Paul, acknowledging he can “obviously box a bit.” But that, for him, makes the risks even greater. “A 58-year-old man shouldn’t be fighting,” he adds. “At that age, your punch resistance invariably disappears. While we see clips of Tyson on the pads, that’s not real. What’s real is sparring against good quality opposition, and you can be sure he’s not doing that given his age.”
Adam Kelly, president of media at global sports marketing agency IMG, offers a different perspective. He predicts that Tyson v Paul has “the potential to break some of the all-time best ratings, and be one of the most viewed boxing matches of all time.” Kelly was part of the Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor promotion in 2017, which was a pay-per-view hit and paved the way for crossover matches. In his current role, he speaks regularly to major sports organizations and broadcasters about the future of sport.
For Kelly, this fight is part of the next iteration of how we will watch sport. The first wave came through commercial TV and advertising. The second from pay TV. The third is being powered by Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Google with YouTube. “Sport is a major part of the attention economy, and these companies are the most effective in turning attention into earnings,” he says. “They’ll be able to monetize audiences better than existing players.”
Tyson versus Paul is the opening salvo for Netflix before its broadcast of live NFL Christmas Day games, WWE events next year, and potential future live sports. How can companies like Netflix and Amazon compete with monthly charges from Sky or high pay-per-view fees? “One of the challenges sport faces is direct monetization from fans is kind of tapped out,” says Kelly. “But in the attention economy, there are other ways engagement and audience can convert into earnings.”
Netflix is approaching 300m households with its total subscriber base and over 50m on its ad-funded lower cost tier. “From their earnings, they believe those figures have significant potential to grow, delivering a different model from simply charging sports fans more money, while driving more earnings into the game,” he says. “The same is true for other major tech companies. If you draw these elements together, you can see this is more of an upcoming trend.”
“I think we will look back at this and think: ‘This is the moment when Netflix caught fire in sport,’” he adds. “They are really pushing it. And I think it will be one of the biggest fights ever broadcast.” Many in boxing remain skeptical. Promoter Eddie Hearn has criticized the fight, calling it “dangerous, irresponsible and disrespectful to boxing,” and ticket sales are reportedly slow. McGuigan also fears the worst when the fight begins. “I hope it’s proper, not choreographed nonsense, and it’s for real. But if Tyson in his 20s hit Jake Paul, he would have put him in the hospital for a week. Not now because he’s an old man.”
However, as Kelly points out, critics were also vocal before Mayweather fought McGregor. “Boxing aficionados will tell you that McGregor was a terrible boxer, but I was in Vegas, and it was exciting, and people bought into the fight in every way,” he says. “I think this will be similar. With that fight, we brought two superstars from different audience groups together. It was the biggest pay-per-view global boxing event of all time and kickstarted a trend where influencers like Logan Paul, Jake Paul, KSI, and others realized a lot of people will pay for a different kind of event.”
When Tyson returns to the ring, some will tune in hoping to see the former heavyweight champion deliver one final chilling knockout. Others because Netflix’s algorithm has drawn them in, or simply out of curiosity. As one commenter on the official trailer on YouTube put it: “Is this dumb? Yes. Will I watch? Yes.” The reaction that followed suggested that many others felt the same way.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
