Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (2024)

It was about 30 seconds into the third round of Katie Taylor’s magnificent rematch with Amanda Serrano that the thought occurred – if this is the way that the revolution will be televised, it first needs to be refined.

If Netflix is serious about getting into live sport – and all indications are that it is – it needs to stop the glitching.

In these days of high-speed broadband, buffering was supposed to be a thing of the past. But there it was, back in all its irritating glory on Friday night.

Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (1)

Across social media, hundreds of angry, bleary-eyed Irish people were wondering what was happening to the stream.

At least all the time spent buffering meant a few seconds where we didn’t have to listen to Rosie Perez – giving her most disappointing performance since White Men Can’t Jump – in the commentary booth. Perez is a boxing fan and of Puerto Rican heritage, so it was a little understandable that she was a tad biased towards Serrano.

But the cheerleading, especially when referee Jon Schrole deducted a point off Taylor in the eighth round, all felt a little distasteful.

We should be thankful that Roy Jones Jr, world champion at four different weights and arguably one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in history, was also in the commentary box.

‘I don’t think that’s fair. I think they both headbutted each other by mistake,’ Jones Jr said in answer to Perez’s hysterics.

By the final bell, Jones Jr, the actual boxing expert, was the only one on the Netflix commentary team who wasn’t expecting Serrano to win the fight. And such was the disgust on the part of Perez that she even suggested that the decision was ‘going to be an asterisk on Katie Taylor’s legacy.’

Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (2)

You know, that legacy which includes convincing a sceptical IBA by dint of her rare talent, to allow women’s boxing into the Olympics and then winning gold at London despite an insane level of public expectation; the legacy that includes five amateur world titles and becoming an undisputed world champion at two weights; being the first female fighter (alongside Serrano) to headline Madison Square Garden; and setting the path for thousands of young girls she has inspired to follow her into the sport.

But a unanimous decision in a close, and enthralling, contest is going to taint all of that. The sad thing is Perez’s assertion wasn’t the lowest point of the coverage.

We still haven’t decided if that was seeing Mike Tyson’s bare backside after he had been interviewed by his son in the dressing-room; the microphone failure that ensured Lennox Lewis’s obvious joke to Evander Holyfield – asking if he thought Tyson might bite Paul’s ear – fell flat; or the fact that people had to sit through eight rounds of someone, once one of the most feared people on the planet, stumbling around the ring like an old man.

As Andre Ward, another former world champion, said after that co-main event abomination, ‘Tyson is 58 years of age. What did people expect?’ Indeed.

But what we did expect – and what Netflix’s 280 million subscribers globally expected – was a more polished production. The streaming giant may claim that this event was still a case of dipping its toes in the water.

It gave up the pretence that it had no interest in broadcasting live sport on its platform over the past 18 months – and in that time it has hosted tennis and golf exhibitions, a Tom Brady comedy roast and a hot dog eating competition.

Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (3)

But Christmas Day will be its biggest test when it will stream two NFL games – including Kansas City Chiefs against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It is part of a three-year deal with the NFL to broadcast two of the three Yuletide games – another streaming giant, Amazon Prime, has the rights to the third game of that day.

Imagine the outrage if the broadcast starts buffering when Patrick Mahomes is launching a laser-guided pass to Travis Kelce late in the fourth quarter.

Come January of next year, it will begin airing the World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship Raw show, following the 10-year, $5billion deal it announced earlier this year.

The sports entertainment that the WWE trade off is more in keeping with the slow dance of Paul and Tyson on Friday night, rather than the raw brutality of Taylor’s sensational war with Serrano.

But that doesn’t mean Netflix isn’t serious about becoming a big player in the sports market.

Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (4)

From its documentaries, and the remarkable success of Drive To Survive, it knows what sport does to attract eyeballs.

But live sport is a different matter. As big and brash as Netflix is, there was much about its coverage that felt amateurish, that seemed like a company taking tentative steps into an environment it is not entirely comfortable in – at least, not yet. But it will be. There will come a time when the night that an unsuspecting audience saw Tyson’s bare backside will feel like the first steps into a new world.

And maybe nobody will remember the failures of its first major sporting venture.

But less than 24 hours after we witnessed Taylor and Serrano further burnish their legendary status by conjuring up a sequel than was even better than the original, RTÉ broadcast another wonderful sporting contest as Slaughtneil and Cushendall went to extra-time in the Ulster club hurling semi-final.

Irish superstars collide as Rhasidat Adeleke links up with ‘hero’ Katie Taylor post-fight

It was an unexpected classic, enhanced by the informed analysis of former Westmeath manager Joe Fortune.

And on a weekend that showed drama can’t be manufactured, there’s a lesson for Netflix in all of that. As it looks to spread its tentacles towards other sport – perhaps even Premier League – it is worth remembering that sport isn’t scripted and it doesn’t always follow what is expected.

More importantly, if it does become a player in live sport, Netflix needs to understand that commentary is supposed to enhance the experience of the viewer, not have them reaching for the mute button.

Plenty of mistakes were made on Friday night, there were a lot of miscues, but if the broadcasting behemoth is willing to learn from them, then there’s no reason why it won’t be in a good position to do a better job on Taylor-Serrano III, if and when it happens.

Mark Gallagher's Sport on TV: The revolution will be on Netflix - as long as the buffering stops (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Gregorio Kreiger

Last Updated:

Views: 6016

Rating: 4.7 / 5 (57 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Gregorio Kreiger

Birthday: 1994-12-18

Address: 89212 Tracey Ramp, Sunside, MT 08453-0951

Phone: +9014805370218

Job: Customer Designer

Hobby: Mountain biking, Orienteering, Hiking, Sewing, Backpacking, Mushroom hunting, Backpacking

Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.