Those who bought Netflix subscriptions to watch the athletically uninspiring and technically challenged fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul overwhelmingly believe they did not get their money’s worth from Friday night’s fight.
As for Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, however, they definitely got their money’s worth.
While exact figures are unknown, DraftKings Network reports that the 27-year-old YouTuber and 58-year-old former heavyweight champ will walk away with a combined $60 million.
A ringside look at #PaulTyson 👀 pic.twitter.com/WZlzvJ7gKX
— Netflix (@netflix) November 16, 2024
Tyson, who entered the matchup with a reported net worth of about $10 million, is expected to make $20 million, according to DraftKings. To put this number in perspective, that’s approximately the same amount of money he earned from his historic beatdown of Michael Spinks in 1988. The figure is also roughly five percent of what Tyson earned from boxing in his career.
Not a bad night’s work for a 58-year-old who last fought professionally during the George W. Bush administration.
As for Paul, the influencer and childhood star turned YouTuber and boxer, is reportedly expected to earn $40 million, roughly twice as much as Tyson. While some will argue that Tyson is the legend and fan favorite and, thus, should make more than Paul, there are other factors. Paul has nearly 21 million YouTube subscribers and 27 million Instagram followers, and those are just two of his platforms. Many of those in Paul’s social media following would be the target audience for the fight, giving Paul at least equal claim to being the draw for the event.
Paul is also the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), a company promoting the fight with Netflix.
So, Paul is technically one of the CEOs for the event.
It’s unclear how successful a reboot of Paul vs. Tyson or Paul vs. anyone would be if they tried this again. Not only was the fight uninspiring, but viewers became outraged on social media as buffering issues impacted the Netflix broadcast throughout the night.
