Video above: Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul after weigh-in
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A class action lawsuit was filed in Florida on Monday against Netflix over alleged streaming issues during the fight between legendary brawler Mike Tyson and former YouTuber Jake Paul.
The complaint, brought by Hillsborough County resident Ronald “Blue” Denton, alleged breach of contract and unfair, deceptive actions on behalf of Netflix when users were faced with an “unwatchable” live stream during Friday’s event.
“60 million Americans were hyped to see ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ versus YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul. What they saw was ‘The Baddest Streaming on the Planet’,” the lawsuit stated.
Citing “over 100,000 people complaining online,” the lawsuit claimed that “boxing fans, along with the average Americans wanting to see a legend in what would most likely be his last fight, were faced with legendary problems, including: no access, streaming glitches and buffering issues.”
According to Downdetector, which tracks outages in real-time, at least 98,000 people reported Netflix outages on Friday night. Reports said the platform crashed before the fight began while others complained of poor sound and video quality.
According to fight promoter Most Valuable Promotions, which is co-owned by Paul, 60 million people tuned in to Netflix during the main event. Both Netflix and the promoter touted the streaming event as a success, but the lawsuit alleged viewers “did not get what they bargained for as they missed large portions of the fight(s), if not the fight altogether.”
Nexstar’s WFLA reached out to Netflix for comment but did not immediately hear back. NBC Chicago obtained a statement from Netflix on Friday and was told, in part, that the streaming giant had “nothing to comment on at this time.”
Russell Falcon contributed to this report.
