Netflix Reports Canelo vs Crawford Numbers

The viewer numbers are in from Netflix for Saturday’s history-making Canelo vs Crawford fight card, aired live on Netflix from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

While plenty of boxing records were broken Saturday, viewership numbers fell short, although they were still impressive and a healthy sign for the sport.

No surprise to this observer, who predicted this outcome a week prior to the fight.

The main event featured the highly anticipated career-defining performance by Terence Crawford of Omaha (42-0, 31 KOs) who defeated Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez of Guadalajara (63-3-2, 30 KOs) by unanimous decision after 12 rounds to become the undisputed Super Middleweight champion, and boxing’s first male three-division undisputed champion.

Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo Alvarez set an all time gate record and attendance record at Allegiant Stadium. Photo: Zuffa Boxing

Canelo vs Crawford scored an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live+SD viewers from opening to closing bell, per VideoAmp and Netflix. Note: “Live+SD” means a live video stream in Standard Definition, versus High Definition. This option uses less bandwidth, requires slower internet speeds to stream without buffering, and is often used to accommodate smaller screens, such as phones or laptops.

Viewing continued into the weekend with replays bringing an estimated AMA total of 41.4 million viewers (Live+1), making it the most-viewed men’s championship boxing match this century.

Canelo-Crawford peaked at over 24 million concurrent streams.

Taylor Serrano 2 Still Leads

But it does not break the all-time record, set last November on multiple levels by the Most Valuable Promotions fight card featuring the rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in the co-main event. This is why the report is specific as the “most watched men’s championship boxing match.”

The rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano was the single most watched women’s sports event in history. Photo: Ed Mulholland

Netflix reported an average of 74 million global viewers tuned in live to watch the Taylor vs Serrano 2 fight, per both internal data and metrics from TVision.

In the U.S. alone, TVision estimated an average minute audience of 47 million people for that fight, holding the record for most-watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history. Fifty million households globally tuned in live for the co-main event, becoming the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history.

Sixty million households watched the Paul vs. Tyson exhibition live around the world, peaking at 65 million concurrent streams.

Additional Data for Canelo vs Crawford

The fight generated over 950 million owned impressions across Netflix’s global social channels. Canelo Crawford was a top trending topic on X worldwide, trending #1 in the U.S. and appearing in the trending lists of 21 other countries.

Joe Hand Promotions, the leader in premium live sports entertainment for the out-of-home market, estimates 500,000 viewers watched the fight from over 2,700 bars and restaurants in U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.

The sold-out event shattered records at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, with 70,482 people in attendance, generating over $47 million in gate receipts, the largest single-day gate in the history of the stadium since its opening on July 31, 2020.

This places Canelo vs Crawford third on the all-time biggest boxing gates in Las Vegas. Firmly on top is the 2015 Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight, generating $72.2 million in ticket sales. Second is the fight between Mayweather and MMA star Conor McGregor in 2017, at $55.4 million. 

The star-studded guest list including Adam Brody, Angel Reese, Brenda Song, Chance the Rapper, Charlie Sheen, Charlize Theron, Cordae, Darius Garland, Dave Chappelle, David Spade, Evander Holyfield, Holt McCallany, Jason Statham, Jeremy Renner, Joey Badass, Jonathan Majors, Josh Duhamel, Julio César Chávez,  Logan Paul, Macaulay Culkin, Magic Johnson, Marc Anthony, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Friend, Michael Irvin, Michael Che, Michael J. Fox, Mike Tyson, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Reykon, Rob Lowe, Roy Jones Jr., Sofia Vergara, Stephen A. Smith, SZA, Taylor Sheridan, Tom Segura, Tony Hinchcliffe, Tracy Morgan, Tyrese Maxey, Wilmer Valderrama and Wiz Khalifa.

Jake vs Tank May Need A New Venue

Cruiserweight Jake Paul will fight lightweight Tank Davis on Nov. 14 in Atlanta unless the George Athletic & Entertainment Commission says no. Photo: Most Valuable Promotions

Next up on the horizon for Netflix is the recently announced exhibition between Jake Paul and lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis, scheduled and airing globally on November 14. The original venue was announced as the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. However, don’t make your travel reservations just yet.

Most Valuable Promotions announced on Monday that the previously scheduled news conference launching the fight card would be postponed until Monday, September 22. The timing is meaningful.

The Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission (GAEC) holds its September meeting on Thursday, September 18. The Jake vs Tank fight is on the Commission’s agenda. It must vote to sanction the exhibition fight, but approval would violate one of the state’s combat sports regulations. It states that no fight will be permitted between opponents with more than a nine-pound weight difference.

Since Paul is at best a cruiserweight and Davis is at best a welterweight if he’s not training, this could prevent the fight from taking place in Atlanta.

But it won’t necessarily prohibit the fight from taking place at all. Most Valuable Promotions can stage the card at another venue in a different state, with an athletic commission that would let the fight move forward. Stay tuned