Former NFL star Shawne Merriman was among an estimated 60 million viewers who tuned into Netflix to watch Jake Paul’s unanimous decision victory over Mike Tyson.
Merriman was also one of those left frustrated by the quality of the game. With the influx of viewers streaming to the platform around 8 pm ET, many customers experienced buffering issues. Additionally, the broadcast itself was plagued by odd cutaways, Tyson’s full moon and mics going out at the wrong time.
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Shawne Merriman is the founder of Lights Out Xtreme Fighting and Lights Out Sports TV. (Robert Hanashiro, USAT, USA Today via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
Unlike many viewers who watch the fight, Merriman has experience producing live sports television. Lights Out Xtreme Fighting, founded by a former San Diego Chargers fan, broadcasts live on Lights Out Sports TV – the free-to-air channel he co-founded.
The questionable production has caused concern among NFL fans, who worry about what their experience will be like when Netflix broadcasts two games on Christmas Day. Down Detector said it has fielded more than 85,000 complaints from users experiencing issues during the fight.
“They can’t run away from what happened with the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight. They can’t run away from the NFL because one thing about the NFL, their product is No. 1,” Merriman told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday. . “That shield, the look, the graphics packages, the exits and exits are neat.
“You can’t even block the NFL broadcast and they have to solve all these problems now and get the right team there because the NFL will not tolerate that. The NFL brand is very big and one thing about the NFL, what we know and love is the quality of production is very high you can find.”
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The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight was controversial but drew 60 million people. (Photos by Rafael Henrique/SOPA/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Merriman said a lot of mechanical stress testing happens before going live. He made it clear that there should be backups in backups in case anything unexpected happens during the live broadcast.
He suspected that Netflix may not have had the right team for a live sporting event.
“It seemed like they had a mix of outsiders when it came to directors and producers when there were a lot of people who didn’t understand how to do live performances,” he said.
“Live games are generally tough, tough business and that’s why you’ve got these select few who do a good job and do a good job at it for a long time.”
Merriman said he produces a four-hour show for his MMA promotion and understands the struggles some of the Netflix crew go through during fights.
The former NFL star added that he expects to fix it in time for the NFL – and later WWE – to come to the streaming service.
“They’re going to fix it. I wasn’t very much in production for Amazon when they first started ‘Thursday Night Football,'” he said. “You can see the difference, they fixed it well.
“You can’t even block NFL coverage,” Shawne Merriman said. (Robert Hanashiro, USAT, USA Today via Imagn Content Services, LLC)
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“Netflix will get it right. And, I think it will change the position 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.”
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