Netflix is facing a potential class action lawsuit after a Hillsborough County man said he was upset by the “unwatchable” livestream of last week’s Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight.
Ronald “Blue” Denton filed his lawsuit November 18 in state court seeking damages on behalf of Netflix subscribers who were affected by buffering issues during the live event.
Paul defeated the 58-year-old boxing legend in a unanimous decision after the eight-round fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In the complaint, Denton says 97,000 reports of livestream issues were reported less than two hours into the event.
“Boxing fans, along with the average Americans wanting to see a legend in what would most likely be his last fight, were faced with legendary problems, including: no access, streaming glitches and buffering issues,” the complaint states. “60 million Americans were hyped to see ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ versus YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul.
“What they saw was ‘The Baddest Streaming on the Planet.’”
Denton says Netflix delivered the “first punch of the night, to its customers, with unrelenting ‘buffering’ and blocked coverage.”
“The most hyped fight in boxing history turned out to be a ‘record night,’ not for the fight(s) but for the money Netflix stole,” the complaint states. “
Netflix has admitted to “many technical challenges” regarding streaming of the fight, but it also has said those issues were “tackled brilliantly.”
“We don’t want to dismiss the poor experience of some members,” Netflix said of the issues in a statement. “And know we have room for improvement, but still consider this event a huge success.”
Denton’s lawsuit alleges viewers “did not get what they bargained for as they missed large portions of the fight(s), if not the fight altogether.”
“Netflix customers experienced massive streaming issues and should have known better because it’s happened before,” the complaint states. “They were woefully ill-prepared. … These (problems) caused plaintiffs to ‘bite their gloves’ in frustration. … Tens of thousands of Netflix users reported issues accessing the streaming service to the long-awaited showdown between the two famous fighters.”
The complaint says 60 million households watched the stream, and it also was distributed to more than 6,000 bars and restaurants across the United States, which is a record for commercial distribution of a combat sport.
The potential class of plaintiffs, according to the complaint, is all individuals in the United States who are current Netflix subscribers whose access to the November 15 fight was diminished by buffering issues as well as those whose access was blocked. It also alleges a subclass of Florida consumers who were charged the entirety of their Netflix bill despite not receiving the live streaming services for which they paid.
The complaint accuses Netflix of breach of contract, violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act and violating Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act.
Denton seeks to have the class certified, for relief enjoining Netflix from engaging in the alleged wrongful conduct, compensatory damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre-judgment interest and other relief.
The complaint was filed by Billy Howard of The Consumer Protection Firm in Tampa. The case has been assigned to Judge Mark Wolfe.
Hillsborough County Circuit Court case number 24-CA-009170