Weekly Column: Netflix and Sports are Built for Growth and Change

In his capacity as a Columnist for California Sports Lawyer®, Founder and Managing Attorney Jeremy Evans has written a column about the cause for pause around streaming live sports events where technology and distribution will need further development.

You can read the full column below.

Netflix has said for a long time that its role in sports is growing. Netflix is not a traditional bidder for legacy broadcast rights, but prefers one-off events like the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight or two National Football League (“NFL”) games scheduled for December 2024 (or even the Tom Brady Roast). Netflix also prefers the sports documentary boom, which has grown its platform, profits, and other sports audiences.

For what is being deemed as the most live-streamed sports event in history at 65 million people, it should come as no surprise that an event of this caliber would have technical glitches in streaming. The Netflix experiment is one that proves that steaming is the future based on numbers, accessibility, and interest, but the server and distribution technologies need to continue to develop to deliver a seamless product. Interested parties must also remember that 80,000+ people attended the event in-person, a feat in its own right.

Netflix will use the opportunity to learn from the challenges and mistakes to deliver for the NFL come December. Netflix is sure to hear from the NFL as to how it expects to meet demand for games that will likely surpass 45-50 million viewers for the Netflix games during the holiday season. There is nothing simple about being different and challenging the status quo and with great expectations comes great responsibility.

An interesting caveat to this is how the contracts and terms of service are drafted in the agreements between leagues and streamers. Expectations will be high, but almost every recent major sporting or political event that has seen significantly increased viewership has had issues with streaming consistency. It might be high time to utilize Starlink to deliver satellite high speed internet as either the source or back-up to transitional lines nearer to earth. Clearly the existing model is not delivering with current technology and resources.

Streaming companies might also consider partnering on events to pool server and distribution resources, which could increase audiences, consistency, and advertising opportunities. As the world shrinks so do the amount of subscribers, whereas collaboration and cooperation are good ideas and solutions to streaming inconsistency. There are some parts of business that do not need to be reinvented, which includes talking to competitors on how to make streaming to mass audiences work.

About Jeremy M. Evans:

Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.