The Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight has generated a streaming record for a live sporting event. But there is still a fairly large asterisk with that boast.

Netflix said Tuesday it posted an estimated average minute audience (AMA) of 108 million live global viewers, building on previously reported figures of a peak of 65 million concurrent streams and 60 million households around the world watching the fight, won by Paul on Friday in a unanimous decision. The U.S. audience alone was credited with 38 million concurrent streams. 

The streaming giant also said the undercard fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano generated an AMA of 47 million in the U.S., becoming the most-watched women’s sports event of all time in that country, and 74 million globally. 

The figures, however, are only first-party, unaudited numbers in international markets, and were compiled in the U.S. with the aid of advertising technology firm TVision. Unlike Netflix’s upcoming Christmas Day NFL doubleheader, which will employ Nielsen methodology like other league rights holders, the boxing match did not involve a highly established and audited measurement company to tabulate the audience.

Still, the latest Netflix figure likely smashes, at least by some meaningful measure, prior industry high points, such as a peak of 59 million concurrent viewers for the final of the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, or the average U.S. audience of 23 million for an exclusive Peacock stream in January of an NFL wild-card game.

As the latest figures were released, Netflix has been in conversation with the NFL about how best to prevent buffering and performance issues on Christmas that marred the streaming of the Paul-Tyson fight. 

Stock Boom

Netflix, meanwhile, continued its stock-market tear, rising another 3% in Tuesday trading to close at $871.32 per share, adding to a similar lift on Monday and setting another company record.

Shares in Netflix have soared more than 86% this year and the latest news adds to the existing dominance as the world’s largest streaming service.

The Bills not only handed the Chiefs their first loss of the year Sunday but also gave the NFL its most-watched game of the season.

CBS drew 31.14 million viewers for Buffalo’s 30–21 victory over Kansas City, according to a source who viewed the game’s Nielsen ratings, which is the league’s highest TV audience this fall. That number beats the NFL season kickoff game record of 29.2 million viewers NBC got for the Chiefs’ 27–20 win over the Ravens in Week 1.

Ahead of the previously undefeated Chiefs visiting the AFC rival Bills, CBS went all out promoting the potential game of the year. The network took its pregame studio show, The NFL Today, on the road to Highmark Stadium. The program aired in its traditional noon ET time slot, several hours before Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen squared off at 4:25 p.m.

The massive viewership continues Kansas City’s dominance as the NFL’s No. 1 TV team, further separating the Chiefs from the Cowboys, who fell to 3–7 on the season after Monday night’s 34–10 loss to the Texans. The Chiefs are now responsible for the three most-watched games this season, including 27.9 million viewers on CBS for a victory over the Bengals in Week 2.

The up-and-coming Royals are not a factor in the Juan Soto sweepstakes, the single biggest focal point of the MLB hot stove season. But the club still has a series of major, and potentially franchise-altering, decisions in front of it this offseason. 

The Royals are steadily expanding their list of potential ballpark sites to build a successor facility to Kauffman Stadium, and they are now considering a site in Johnson County, Kans., near the location of the former Sprint corporate headquarters.

The enlarged stadium site search is not unlike the wider view also taken by their Truman Sports Complex neighbor, the NFL’s Chiefs. It also follows last spring’s stinging defeat at the ballot box by Jackson County, Mo., voters, and subsequent, and still active, consideration of a site at Washington Square Park, at the southern edge of downtown Kansas City.

Outgoing Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has been quite eager to get a stadium deal with the Royals done before his term finishes in January. Similar to the Chiefs’ deliberations on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas borders, the Royals’ inquiries in Kansas could put more pressure on officials back in Missouri. 

Though the Royals’ stadium search is not nearly as pressing as issues rising with the Rays and A’s, both of which will play in minor league facilities in 2025, the Kansas City deliberations remain one of the key, unresolved ballpark matters in the league. 

TV Talk

The Royals, meanwhile, are just one of two remaining MLB teams to not have their local media rights fully settled for the 2025 season following the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy, which was resolved last week with court approval of its reorganization plan. 

Of the 12 MLB clubs that DSG aired in 2024, six (Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Marlins, Rays, and Tigers) are returning to Diamond Sports Group in revised deals and four others (Brewers, Guardians, Reds, and Twins) are shifting over the league model in which MLB will produce and distribute their local games. The Rangers are not returning to DSG and have been considering forming their own local network. 

That leaves Kansas City, which has also been negotiating with DSG on a restructured rights deal. If an agreement is struck, the club will likely enter 2025 as one of the top teams in the company’s baseball portfolio as the Royals improved by 30 wins in 2024, reached the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, and feature American League Most Valuable Player finalist Bobby Witt Jr.