Netflix’s abysmal live stream of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight won’t go unpunished, as the streaming giant just got served, and fans seem to be crying out in joy. The event, streamed last Friday, left countless viewers frustrated due to technical issues, prompting many to voice their dissatisfaction on social media.

Despite the outcry, Netflix and the event’s headliners celebrated a record-breaking achievement, boasting about the peak viewership of 65 million during the live broadcast. Today, Netflix took to social media to announce that 108 million people tuned in to watch the fight. However, the streaming platform’s celebration may be short-lived, as the mishandling of the event has led to significant repercussions.

Florida man behind class action lawsuit against Netflix

According to TMZ Sports, a class action lawsuit has been filed against Netflix over the disastrous livestream of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight. The suit, led by Florida man Ronald ‘Blue’ Denton, was filed on Monday, November 18th, just three days after the event. 

According to the filing, Denton and thousands of others experienced severe issues while attempting to watch the fight on Netflix, including inaccessible streams, persistent glitches, and constant buffering. So, Denton is suing the streaming giant for breach of contract, among other things.

Denton alleges that when he tuned in at 8 PM ET, he encountered what he described as “legendary problems” that ruined the experience. Evidence of these widespread issues is easy to find, as social media platform X was flooded with complaints and even saw the topic trending the night of the fight.

Just the other day, Netflix’s Chief Technology Officer, Elizabeth Stone, acknowledged the challenges in an internal message to employees. “This unprecedented scale created many technical challenges, which the launch team tackled brilliantly by prioritizing stability of the stream for the majority of viewers,” Stone wrote. 

“We don’t want to dismiss the poor experience of some members, and know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success.” However, news of the lawsuit quickly gained traction online, with many fans expressing support for the legal action and branding it a deserved outcome for the streaming platform’s mismanagement of the event.

Fan hopes Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are part of the lawsuit as well

Most people were not happy about the fight to begin with because Paul was fighting Tyson, who is not only an icon, but 31 years his senior. Tyson’s loss via unanimous decision and the uneventful bout made things even worse. So, most people seemed to be happy with the update. 

Like this user, who wanted to get in on the lawsuit. “Can I get in on this Netflix lawsuit too? Netflix sucked during that Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight,” the user commented. There is no set number of people required to file a class action lawsuit, and one party represents a larger group of people with similar interests or damages. 

Another user wanted Paul and Tyson to be part of the lawsuit as well. “Exactly! I hope Jake and Tyson are in the suit too,” the user wrote. Notably, there are unsubstantiated allegations that the fight was scripted and that Tyson intentionally lost the fight. However, the reality of the situation is that Tyson’s age had got to him, and he couldn’t perform the way he once used to.

Someone else speculated about how much money people could receive if the lawsuit goes in their favor. “So everyone is getting awarded $3.64 lol,” the user wrote. However, the exact amount Netflix is being sued for has not been disclosed, let alone how it might be distributed among those affected.

Meanwhile, this user poked fun at Netflix for their work. “S**t brazy [be]cause even the bootleg streams of the fight had higher quality 😂😂😂,” the user commented. Streaming any paid event from illegal websites is against the law and could have serious repercussions for those involved.

The next user resorted to a similar approach to address the situation. “Legend says it’s still buffering today,’ the user commented while sharing a short clip of endless buffering. So, if you think about it, despite Netflix’s claims of active viewers, many couldn’t even watch the fight. 

That said, it appears Netflix’s debut in boxing was not as smooth as they had hoped. At first, they had to listen to all the backlash, and now, they are in the middle of a class action lawsuit. Do you think viewers should be compensated for the livestream?