According to Zhitong Finance APP, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is facing the "internet celebrity boxer" Jake Paul, who has transitioned from a social media influencer to a boxer, in this much-anticipated boxing match on Friday.$Netflix (NFLX.US)$This is one of the latest marketing moves by the media giant, which will live-stream the heavyweight boxing match in its entirety, continuing to profit from the streaming boom of sports events.

This "intergenerational showdown" has all the elements to become a popular crossover series. The 58-year-old legendary boxer Tyson represents the glory of the older generation of boxers, while the 27-year-old Paul, who gained fame and fortune early on YouTube, attracts the young fans of social media and the younger demographic enthusiastic about boxing. Paul was once a popular short video influencer in the USA, gaining millions of fans with prank and quirky videos on social networks, and then transitioned to boxing, challenging MMA and former UFC fighters starting in 2021, unexpectedly defeating them and being dubbed the strongest “internet celebrity boxer” in history.

This much-anticipated boxing match is expected to attract countless sports enthusiasts from around the globe to watch the live broadcast, and Netflix, which is live-streaming the event, is expected to capture a massive audience. It is understood that the streaming giant Netflix has over 0.28 billion paid subscribers globally who will be able to watch the live high-definition broadcast on Netflix's streaming platform. For American boxing fans who are accustomed to paying extra to watch big matches broadcast by HBO, this could be a welcomed change.

"Currently, the trend in all sports events is to transfer some of their core assets to streaming platforms," says Bob Dorfman, a veteran sports marketing analyst in San Francisco. "This is a peak showdown between two superstars, and it indeed has the potential to become the largest-scale live-streamed sports event."

The American subscription television network HBO announced in 2018 that it would stop broadcasting boxing matches, ending a 45-year partnership with the sport and leaving a vacuum in broadcasting rights.

Netflix has previously ventured into live sports content, including golf and tennis exhibitions, as well as the popular documentary series "F1: Drive to Survive," which is credited with increasing the popularity of motorsports in the USA.

This highly anticipated boxing match was held at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which accommodates 0.08 million people, and marked netflix's first live broadcast of a boxing event, helping netflix achieve its strategy of providing viewers with exclusive high-quality content that cannot be found elsewhere.

Although there will not be traditional advertisements for this match, there are sponsors, and their messaging will become a part of the live event.

Despite its advertising-supported service layer growing rapidly, advertising is not the main source of revenue for this streaming giant. Reports this week stated that its ad-supported streaming subscription users have increased from 40 million in May to 70 million.

Former CBS Sports president Neil Pilson stated that this major event signifies a lasting 'relationship' between sports and streaming, although he predicts that streaming and traditional broadcasting services will coexist amicably in the foreseeable future. 'To me, it's more of a novelty. It won't change the entire industry,' Pilson said. 'The industry will still be driven primarily by league broadcasting agreements (like those from major league soccer, national football league, and major league baseball), rather than an exclusive live broadcast.'

Amazon's streaming service Prime spent heavily in 2021 to acquire exclusive rights to broadcast Thursday Night Football, while major league soccer signed a massive 10-year exclusive broadcasting agreement with apple Apple TV in 2022, reportedly worth up to 2.5 billion dollars.

Major league baseball also signed an agreement with apple to launch the 'Friday Night Baseball' program in 2022, a weekly double-header show.

Sports leagues seem to be more inclined towards streaming because it can attract a global audience, including younger viewers who do not watch traditional television.

Major league soccer (MLS) president Don Garber stated that the apple streaming platform allows MLS to better leverage the sport's global fan base. 'We saw difficulties in attracting viewers and achieving economic benefits on local and regional television stations in 2018,' Garber said at the Paley International Council Summit this week.

We hope to enter the market in a global way... What we offer is a global subscription service, and every one of the 600 matches we launch is treated with the same importance as 'Monday Night Football.'

Editor/ping