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The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match was extremely polarizing, but it certainly did big numbers. The Disney star-turned YouTuber-turned boxer fought a 58-year-old version of one of the greatest boxers of all time, and everyone watched it. Paul ended up victorious in a fight that many thought was underwhelming in terms of in-ring performance. We aren't here to criticize the product, though. Instead, we wanted to look at how big Paul vs. Tyson was in terms of gate sales and viewership in comparison to the other biggest events in combat sports history.
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson streams
The Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was different from any other boxing bout before. Usually, boxing matches require a pay-per-view purchase to watch them, but this fight was the first live sporting event ever streamed on Netflix. An additional PPV purchase wasn't required to watch this fight; only a Netflix subscription was.
That makes comparing it to other combat sports events somewhat difficult. Regardless, 60 million households reportedly tuned in to watch the fight live. There were even 50 million watching the bout before Tyson and Paul stepped in the ring. That fight was between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, and that viewership made it the most-watched women's sporting event ever.
The 60 million households tuning in is a staggering amount, considering Netflix has 280 million subscribers. Additionally, you have to take into account that a large chunk of the households watching the fight had multiple viewers tuned in on the same screen.
The record-breaking event wasn't flawless. The massive viewership numbers led to thousands of fans dealing with buffering issues in what was Netflix's first live sporting event. Next up for Netflix is two NFL games on Christmas Day and the broadcasting of WWE Raw on Jan. 6.
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at the gate
Whether it is boxing, mixed martial arts, or another form of combat sports, a great way to tell how big an event was is to see how it did at the gate. This is especially true for the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight, specifically because of the uniqueness in the way people watched it on their TV screens.
It is somewhat hard to compare Netflix viewership to pay-per-view purchases, but gate sales are gate sales, and the Paul vs. Tyson fight was a huge hit for people watching in person. The bout was hosted at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which is one of the biggest and most well-known venues in the United States of America.
Most Valuable Promotions, the promoting company for this fight and the one that Paul founded, reported that the revenue at the gate was $18,117,072. That is a combat sports record in the state of Texas. It is also nearly double the gate of Canelo Alvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders. That boxing match also took place at AT&T Stadium back in 2021, and it made about $9 million at the gate. That fight had 73,126 people in attendance, which allowed it to surpass Leon Spinks vs. Muhammad Ali's fight for the most-attended boxing match at an indoor venue ever.
Paul vs. Tyson reportedly had around 72,000 people in attendance, but ticket prices were a lot steeper than most other boxing matches. After all, this bout had been hyped up for the better part of a year and was not only one of the most-anticipated boxing matches of recent memory but in boxing history overall. The over $18 million in ticket sales places this bout just outside of the top eight in boxing history, with only Las Vegas fight cards selling more. It made over double at the gate in comparison to any non-Las Vegas boxing match ever.
Additionally, the gate was bigger than any UFC event ever outside of Las Vegas, including the Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez fight at UFC 205 in New York City. Paul reportedly made at least $40 million for stepping into the ring, and Tyson walked away with $20 million. Jake Paul is clearly a big draw, and his next fight will certainly bring in the dough as well. Two fighters mentioned earlier, Canelo Alvarez and Conor McGregor, have been rumored as potential Paul opponents. If either of those opponents became reality for Paul, then that fight would have the chance to even surpass the Tyson fight from a financial perspective.
