By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 14:33:10 | Updated at 2024-11-23 14:07:39
3 days ago
Former NFL player Shawne Merriman has sent Netflix a warning after it botched its broadcast of Mike Tyson's Jake Paul fight - with the streaming giant showing two huge football games next, on Christmas Day.
Viewers around the world were unhappy at the streaming giant's first major foray into sports broadcasting, with millions unable to watch the fight at all due to buffering issues.
Those that did manage to see it saw Tyson's bizarre full moon in a locker room interview and analysts struggling with sound issues that meant they were unable to hear each other talk during pieces to camera.
It means that Merriman, speaking to Fox News, has said what a lot of football fans are thinking when he told Netflix these issues simply cannot be repeated when it streams two Christmas Day games in a little over a month.
Netflix is showing Travis Kelce and Kansas City Chiefs against Pittsburgh Steelers at 1pm ET followed by Baltimore Ravens against Houston Texans at 4:30pm in a deal that cost $150million.
'They can get away with what happened with the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight. They cannot get away with the NFL because the one thing about the NFL, their product is No. 1,' Merriman said.
Netflix's error-strewn broadcast of Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul has left NFL fans worried
The streaming giant is showing Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs in action on Christmas Day
Many viewers were confronted with an error message during Friday's fight on Netflix
'You cannot under no circumstances botch an NFL broadcast and they have to work out all those kinks now and get the right crew there because the NFL is not going to tolerate that.
'The NFL's brand is too big and one thing about the NFL, what we know and love, is the production quality is at the highest standards you can get.'
Merriman, who played seven years in the NFL for San Diego Chargers and Buffalo Bills, felt the Tyson vs Paul broadcast was not run by a team who had experience working in live sports.
'It just seemed like they had a mixture of some outside people when it came to directors and producers while there was a lot of in house who didn’t understand how to go about live sports,' he said.
'Live sports in general is tough, tough business and that’s why you got these select few that do a great job and been doing a great job at it for a long time.'
But despite his disappointed verdict on Netflix's handling of boxing, he backed the organization to learn from the mistakes in time for the NFL.
'Netflix will get it right,' Merriman added. 'Also, I think it’s going to change the landscape of the NFL in the international market.
'So, they have to get that right because if they do, that’s a match made in heaven.'
Merriman spent seven years in the NFL with San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills
Netflix has two outstanding games to broadcast around the world for Christmas, with the Chiefs bidding for their third straight Super Bowl title and heading to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers.
There is also a chance Taylor Swift will be there to cheer her boyfriend Kelce on, although she has tended to avoid games on the road this season.
The later game, with the Ravens against the Texans, features two other Super Bowl contenders. Both teams are 7-4 at present. Beyonce is also set to to headline the halftime show for the game at NRG Stadium.
And despite the difficulties on the night of the fight itself last week, Netflix still regards its Tyson-Paul broadcast as a 'huge success'.
It claimed as many as 65 million households were watching at one stage of the evening.
