Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) has revealed that the September 13 showdown between Mexican boxer Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez and his American counterpart Terence Crawford was “the most viewed men’s championship boxing match this century.”
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The fight, won by Terence Crawford, fetched an average of 41.4 million views during each minute of its broadcast on Netflix. This figure includes those who watched within an hour after it aired and those who watched over the weekend, Netflix said, citing data from ad software firm VideoAmp.
Furthermore, the video-on-demand company noted that the match topped streaming charts on its platform across 30 countries, including the U.S., UK, Mexico, Canada, and the Philippines. It also ranked among the top 10 in 91 countries.
Netflix Scores Massive Viewership
The Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight took place at the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Crawford was unanimously declared the winner of the super middleweight professional boxing contest after 12 rounds.
In the U.S. alone, the match accumulated over 20.3 million views on Netflix, which includes those who watched live and within the same day. This is even as 24 million people streamed the contest simultaneously on their Netflix accounts.
Adding to the record-breaking performance of the match, Netflix noted that physical attendance at the stadium drew in over 70,000 people. This brought in $47 million in ticket sales, which is the highest since the stadium was established.
The match was arranged under the Riyadh Season Card, one of the activities of the Riyadh Season, an annual cultural and entertainment sports festival organized by Saudi Arabia. The fight was organized in partnership with Dana White, the CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing promotion outfit Zuffa Boxing and Saudi Arabian entertainment company Sela were also involved in setting up the match.
NFLX Stock Falls on Reports of Rivals’ Planned Merger
Meanwhile, the update on the streaming performance of the match follows Netflix’s shares falling by about 3% over the past few days on reports of rival Paramount Skydance’s (PSKY) possible acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
Paramount owns its namesake streaming service while Warner Bros. controls HBO Max. A merged company would lead the CBS television network and an extensive array of specialty channels, sparking fierce competition with Netflix in the live sports market.
Is Netflix a Good Stock to Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, Netflix’s shares have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TipRanks, based on 25 Buys, 11 Holds, and one Sell assigned by 37 Wall Street analysts over the past three months. At $1,393.77, the average NFLX price target indicates a 16% growth potential from the current level.
