Netflix views wrestling as a venture into scripted entertainment rather than strictly sport and says that their interest is in big events rather than taking an entire league programme. “I’ll never say never but I’ll say that right now we are in the live events business – some of those events are sports,” said Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos. “There’s something very interesting and very exciting about when the world comes together to watch the same thing at the same time. They don’t do it very often. That’s what makes it so special.
“I have no idea how to call this fight. It’s going to be incredibly entertaining and that’s what we try to do, day in and day out. The main difference between the event and the full season is really the economics. Distribution is a pretty low-margin business in league sports.”
While Netflix could change strategy – it was only last year that they began introducing a model with funding from advertisers (who are hugely attracted to live sport) – big combat sports can clearly introduce many new viewers to their wider offering. HBO has long used boxing in that way.
Hearn taking the moral high ground
The British promoter Eddie Hearn has said that he will walk out of the arena after his fighter Katie Taylor has boxed on Friday rather than watch Tyson-Paul, which he describes as “dangerous, irresponsible and disrespectful to boxing”.
However, hailing from a family who were pioneers in magnifying sport’s personalities and narratives, he readily concedes that the event will “do great numbers” and make “a lot of money”. Experts such as Adam Kelly, the president of media at the global sports marketing agency IMG, even believe that it could break all-time viewing records for a fight.
If so, the merging of contrived sports events into what has become known as the “attention economy” will continue. And the preference for eyeballs and dollars rather than excellence and competition will only accelerate at the expense of those left behind.