From Jake Paul to the Oscars: why live events are becoming streaming’s next big business

But zoom out and the bout was never really about boxing. It was a cultural flashpoint — and a clear signal of something much bigger: how streaming platforms are quietly reshaping the live events economy, and opening up a new, global playbook for marketers and sponsors in the process.

Why live matters again

According to Netflix, live events do something that premium scripted content cannot: they bring audiences together at the same moment, creating an unmissable, real-time cultural conversation. The appeal isn’t just the content itself, but the simultaneity – everyone watching, reacting and sharing at once.

The Paul v Joshua fight fits that mould neatly. Boxing, Netflix believes, is naturally suited to streaming: short, high-drama, globally legible and capable of generating instant social heat. These moments, watched across subscription tiers, become high-impact opportunities for brand partners, with multiple layers of integration – from in-stadium presence to on-screen placements and ad breaks.

This is not about replicating linear television. Netflix’s view is that live is simply a natural extension of its broader programming mix, sitting alongside films, series and documentaries – meeting audiences wherever their interests are rather than forcing them into rigid formats.

The Netflix playbook, in public

As The Telegraph put it in its analysis of Friday night’s fight, “we are witnessing the tectonic plates of boxing shift in real time – and it is all down to one word: Netflix.”

The streamer is not dabbling. In just over a year, it has built a serious live sports slate: Jake Paul v Mike Tyson, Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano, Canelo Álvarez v Terence Crawford, NFL Christmas Day games and the WWE Raw deal.

Paul v Tyson in November 2024 reportedly drew 108 million global views, while Taylor v Serrano became the most-watched women’s professional sporting event in history. According to the Telegraph, Netflix’s ambition is not to be a boxing promoter, but a global stadium – using live events to drive retention, cultural relevance and advertiser interest, without the friction of pay-per-view.

Removing the £25.99 or $80 paywall has been key. Folded into an existing subscription – including ad-supported plans – live events suddenly scale far beyond traditional fight economics.

There have been stumbles. Buffering issues during the Paul v Tyson broadcast were, as some noted, a “black eye” for a tech company, but not a knock-out blow.

Why advertisers are leaning in

According to Netflix, advertiser interest in live events looks different from on-demand content. Brands are drawn to the ‘can’t miss’ nature of live – moments that cut through fragmentation and become part of the global cultural conversation.

Live inventory across events has consistently sold out, Netflix says, helped by expanded international ad sales and new capabilities such as dynamic ad insertion. The ability to tailor streams – for example, language-specific broadcasts with local advertisers – adds another layer of precision.

The key distinction is attention. Live events don’t just deliver reach; they deliver engagement that spills beyond the stream itself, driving conversation across social and press long after the final bell.

Creator culture meets appointment viewing

Jake Paul is also instructive for another reason. He brings a creator-native audience into a traditionally linear sports format – a highly online fanbase that translates into measurable engagement when moved on to a live platform.

The future of live programming may look less like legacy broadcast schedules and more like culture-first moments built around personalities, fandoms and communities that already exist online.

From boxing to the Oscars

If this all feels like a sports story, it isn’t for long. This week, it was announced that the Oscars will move to YouTube from 2029 under a multiyear deal with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, ending decades of broadcast exclusivity with ABC. The ceremony will stream live and free to more than 2 billion users globally, while also airing on YouTube TV in the US.

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the partnership would “inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers,” while ABC acknowledged the changing viewing landscape as awards show ratings continue to fragment.

The logic mirrors Netflix’s. Big cultural moments still matter, but audiences no longer gather in one place by default. Platforms now have to build those moments deliberately, at scale, and make them discoverable alongside everything else people already watch.

The signal, not the spectacle

Step back from Jake Paul for a moment and the signal is clear. According to Netflix, live events are about adding value for members – included in existing subscriptions, easy to discover and offering access to moments people wouldn’t otherwise experience. They are unedited, unpredictable and culturally live – the opposite of polished, on-demand perfection.

For marketers, this creates a new proposition: global reach without paywalls, cultural relevance without fragmentation and advertising environments where audiences still accept – even expect – commercial messages.

From Miami fight nights to Hollywood’s biggest awards show, live events are being rebuilt for the streaming age. The platforms that master them won’t just own attention for a night. They’ll own the conversation that follows.