Professional boxing, big title fights, in the 80s and before that were shown often to tens of millions of people at a time in different places.
Then the pay per view model came which was great for a while which filled the gap for the reduced rights fees commercially that were unviable for the professional boxing product.
Blue-chip sponsors and major corporations then lost interest for a while in boxing outside of some loyal companies like Sky Sports in the UK and Showtime and HBO in the US.
HBO and Showtime are toast in the US and Sky still do a good job for boxing in Europe.
But global titans like Netflix, the world’s number one commercial streaming giant, are on an entirely different level.
As our DAZN and Paramount who will soon be coming to boxing, as well as many other companies and governments around the world.
Despite some old naysayers who don’t understand who professional sports work, and that if the demographic keeps getting older and the audience keeps shrinking, and a sport dies then, boxing will instead prosper without a few within it shortly.
Here are ten reasons why:
10 Reasons Netflix’s Boxing Push Elevates the Sport Globally
- Global Viewership Explosion: Paul-Tyson drew 108M live viewers in 190+ countries, exposing boxing to non-traditional markets and sparking worldwide hype.
- Youth Revival for Survival: Attracts Gen Z (18-34) via social tie-ins, countering aging fanbase—without young followers, sports fade fast.
- Subscriber Boom from Under-35s: Paul-Tyson added 1.4M U.S. signups, mostly youth, boosting Netflix’s 9M Q4 2024 gains and locking in new fans.
- Record-Breaking Title Fights: Canelo-Crawford hit 41.4M viewers, the century’s top men’s bout, turning elite matches into global events for casuals.
- Dominance in 30+ Nations: Topped charts from Mexico to Philippines, growing boxing in Latin America/Asia among urban young viewers.
- Accessible Subscription Model: Replaces PPV barriers, drawing global youth who skip cable—sustains growth and broadens the fanbase.
- Sponsorship Surge: 65M concurrent Paul-Tyson streams lured brands to younger demographics, amplifying commercial value with polished production.
- Viral Social Hooks: Paul’s TikTok/YouTube empire funnels Gen Z to streams, creating hype cycles that revive interest beyond purist circles.
- Data-Optimized Events: Analytics tailor fights for diverse youth (e.g., 25-29s in Canelo data), evolving boxing into fresh, appealing spectacles.
- Commercial Renaissance: 280M+ young/international subs unlock ads, merch, and promos—unifying the sport for packed arenas and long-term revenue.
Netflix Going All In On Boxing Is A Great Thing
So far, Netflix have done well on the numbers in terms of getting boxing out there to the masses.
But much more needs to be done.
More aggression.
Much more.
Take things much further. It is working for Netflix big time, as well, where they are getting many new subscribers from a soon to be booming sport again.
The Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford event was a huge success, a massive one.
The event and the fight itself, and, some of the undercard.
Boxing will never lose its traditional values or being the sweet science at its core.
But the product needed a younger demographic added to it as the old people who follow it for years will die soon and old people, excuse the generalization, are usually useless and good at nothing.
All products, inclduing professional boxing, needs young people.
This is what big corporations, fans, blue chip sponsors, and new governments coming to boxing want.
That is what they will get and the fans will benefit from the best fight the best on a regular basis.
This is what the UFC did and what boxing used to do back in the day, so well.
Where the best world champions regularly competed against once another.
To do this, boxing needs a bigger, younger audience, more tech savvy on streaming and sure, the old people who follow the sport can stay if they want to, or die, that’s up to them.
The best fights are still going to happen.
Boxing will still win.
Boxing will be made great again worldwide one way or another minus a few people if needed who simply are not important anymore to the sport.
If things go really well commercially and sporting wise for professional boxing, you may even see big world title fights for free again like back in the day.
This time online.
Anything is possible.
