Dec 14, 2024

Netflix Hit with Class Action Lawsuit Over Streaming Failures During Jake Paul-Mike Tyson Boxing Event

by Lawrence J. Tjan | Nov 22, 2024
Two boxers facing off at a weigh-in event, surrounded by women in matching outfits, with promotional logos in the background. Photo Source: Christian Petersen/Getty Images via foxnews.com

Netflix is facing a potential class action lawsuit following widespread streaming issues during the highly anticipated Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match, which left many subscribers unable to watch the event in its entirety. A lawsuit filed Monday in Florida state court alleges that Netflix was “woefully ill-prepared” to handle the global audience, despite assurances of readiness from the streaming giant and its partners.

The complaint, brought by Florida resident Ronald Denton, accuses Netflix of breach of contract and violations of Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade practices laws. It alleges that subscribers experienced persistent buffering and freezing glitches throughout the event, with some viewers unable to access the stream at all.

Denton’s lawsuit claims that Netflix failed to deliver on its contractual obligation to provide uninterrupted streaming services. “Instead of providing the programming its viewers pay for every month, Netflix was completely unprepared and unable to fix the issues,” the complaint states, highlighting the company’s continued billing for services not delivered during the event.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and aims to represent all subscribers who encountered streaming problems during the fight.

The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson match was Netflix’s most-viewed sporting event, with 108 million viewers worldwide, according to analytics company TVision and Netflix’s internal data. Of those, 60 million were Netflix member households, representing roughly one in five subscribers. The massive viewership, however, overwhelmed the platform, resulting in significant streaming disruptions.

Subscribers began reporting issues as early as 7 p.m. CT, according to Down Detector, a service outage tracker. By 10 p.m., nearly 97,000 complaints had been logged. The issues quickly became a trending topic on social media, with hashtags such as “#buffering” and “NetflixBroken” gaining traction on X (formerly Twitter).

Despite prior assurances of preparedness from Netflix’s sports division and fight promoter Nakisa Bidarian, the technical failures drew widespread criticism. The lawsuit emphasizes that Netflix declined to offer refunds or discounts to affected subscribers, compounding frustrations.

This is not the first time Netflix has faced scrutiny over its ability to handle live events. Last year, the platform experienced significant delays during the live reunion for season four of Love Is Blind, prompting similar complaints from subscribers. At the time, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters assured viewers that the company had the infrastructure to support live broadcasts, though no specific cause for the delay was identified.

The latest incident raises questions about Netflix’s capacity to reliably stream high-stakes live events, particularly as the company ventures further into live sports programming—a key area of growth for the platform.

The lawsuit accuses Netflix of failing to deliver the promised service and of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Denton’s legal team contends that Netflix misled subscribers about its preparedness to stream the event without interruptions and failed to take adequate steps to mitigate the disruptions once they occurred.

If certified as a class action, the case could potentially involve millions of Netflix subscribers who were affected by the streaming issues, resulting in significant financial liability for the platform. The lawsuit could also put pressure on Netflix to strengthen its live-streaming infrastructure and establish clearer policies for compensating subscribers in the event of technical failures.

Netflix has declined to comment on the lawsuit. However, the company has touted the fight’s record-breaking viewership, which underscores the growing demand for live sports and entertainment on streaming platforms. As Netflix continues to compete with traditional broadcasters and other streaming services, ensuring reliability during live events will be crucial to maintaining subscriber trust.

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Lawrence J. Tjan
Lawrence J. Tjan
Lawrence is an attorney with experience in corporate and general business law, complemented by a background in law practice management. His litigation expertise spans complex issues such as antitrust, bad faith, and medical malpractice. On the transactional side, Lawrence has handled buy-sell agreements, Reg D disclosures, and stock option plans, bringing a practical and informed approach to each matter. Lawrence is the founder and CEO of Law Commentary.

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