Graney: Netflix to give global audience look at Alvarez-Crawford
Callum Walsh said it best: “It’s a massive opportunity for everybody. There’s going to be grandmothers clicking on it by accident. There’s going to be people who have never seen a fight before watching the sport for the first time. We’re going to gain fans and turn them into boxing fans. You’re going to have all age groups, everybody and anybody watching.
“Netflix gives us that opportunity.”
It’s true. A massive one, is right.
Walsh is the Irish fighter set to face Fernando Vargas Jr. in the co-main event of the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford megafight at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night.
It’s all about Alvarez and Crawford and their undisputed super middleweight championship showdown. It’s all about how folks will consume one of the biggest fights in decades.
There has been a serious change in the sport, from a pay-per-view model to a streaming platform like Netflix.
Such events can now be delivered to millions and millions of people as part of their subscription.
And that’s a good thing for the consumer.
And a good thing for a sport desiring to engage the casual (or completely disinterested) fan who, as Walsh said, just might click on it by accident.
Big numbers
“It’s very important,” Crawford said. “If you look at boxing back in the day, before the NBA and NFL took over, its popularity came from being a sport on regular TV. People were able to see all those megafights. So it’s great to be on Netflix, to have people witness a fight like this.
“I’m here to do big numbers and break records.”
There’s every bit the chance.
It’s the third time Netflix will enter the ring. Its first push into the world of boxing came in November of last year, when a record 108 million globally tuned in to watch YouTuber Jake Paul score a unanimous eight-round exhibition decision over Mike Tyson.
Difference: It’s a real fight this time.
“By moving high-profile fights from the traditional, high-cost pay-per-view model to Netflix, we are making these events accessible to millions of casual fans globally who wouldn’t have paid for them otherwise,” said Gabe Spitzer, vice president of sports for Netflix. “This broadens the sport’s appeal and introduces it to new audiences.”
It just makes the sport more accessible. It alters how fans respond to boxing. Things don’t feel as exclusive.
It could have the ability to tweak the entire industry over time. The growing interest in live sports by Netflix is a potential game-changer.
“This opportunity is huge,” said Vargas Jr., who will be fighting at super welterweight. “You’re bringing new eyes to the sport. People like Jake Paul has brought new eyes. This (fight card) will do the same. We all have something to prove. And this is a great way to bring it to the boxing world.”
It might have come to the party a tad late in terms of streaming live sporting events, but Netflix is making up for it. The NFL. WWE. Now boxing. The women’s World Cup to come.
It doesn’t want to just be another youngster on this particular playground. Netflix wants to run it.
And a boxing card like the one Saturday could go a long way in making that occur. Crawford in a four-belt era is trying to become an undisputed champion in three weight divisions. Alvarez holds all belts at super middleweight.
So it has that kind of potential.
And you will have others trying to take advantage of such a platform. Fighters who could become household names in households that never thought for a second there would be an interest in boxing.
More eyes, new eyes
“I told him, ‘Son, when we come out of the dressing room, you’re here,’ ” said Vargas’ Boxing Hall of Fame father, Fernando Sr. “It doesn’t get bigger than this. He remembers the energy and ambiance of big fights as a young kid. This was something he was born to do.”
And he’ll do it in front of a worldwide audience.
More eyes. New eyes. A different way now for folks to consume live sports.
“Our primary goal is to entertain the world, and have something for everyone,” Spitzer said. “ We recognized the potential of live programming to attract a diverse audience. … We are pumped for them to see Canelo-Crawford.”
Including all those grandmothers clicking on it by accident.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.
