The Jake Paul / Mike Tyson fight was perhaps one of the biggest tests of streaming giant Netflix’s (NFLX) ability to handle live sporting events. But considering how that fight went—at least, technically—there are some who are very concerned about the future. Investors do not seem fazed, though, as shares were up over 1.5% in the closing minutes of Thursday’s trading.
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The Tyson / Paul fight did not, by many reports, go well. In fact, a new report from Variety revealed that Netflix is already being sued over the various technical glitches it suffered during the bout that left the fight “unwatchable.” The suit—currently filed in Florida state court—was brought by Netflix subscriber Ronald “Blue” Denton, who is seeking “unspecified monetary damages and class-action status on behalf of other consumers who were affected.”
The suit, for its part, accuses Netflix of “….breach of contract and deceptive trade practices under Florida law.” The stream turned out to be the “…most-streamed global sporting event ever,” bringing in around 108 million live viewers globally, with numbers peaking at 65 million concurrent streams and 38 million of those in the United States. That did few favors for Netflix’s streaming infrastructure, meanwhile, which—based on social media commentary—did not work out well for viewers.
An NFL Plan B
This is also making some look nervously toward those Christmas Day NFL games that Netflix reportedly has in mind. And a report from NBC Sports suggests that the NFL should be considering a Plan B for what happens if Netflix has some more “technical difficulties” during this streaming event.
One potential option—and one that Paramount (PARA) is likely pushing for—is to have CBS prepared as a backup venue if Netflix drops the ball. Since CBS is already producing the games for Netflix, it seems like it would be easy enough to set up an emergency backup system that moves the games to CBS if the streamer cannot handle the load. Others believe that Amazon (AMZN) should have been selected over Netflix, as Amazon already handles NFL games.
Is Netflix Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on NFLX stock based on 25 Buys, 10 Holds and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 88.07% rally in its share price over the past year, the average NFLX price target of $809.28 per share implies 9.81% downside risk.
