Tyson and Paul line up across from each other. The bell dings. They raise their fists and Tyson swings.

     Then a small rotating circle appears on the screen. Buffering.

     The Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight on Nov. 15 was the first real test for Netflix’s live sports streaming. For many, this was also a bad first impression.

     The arguing announcers, technical errors and low fight quality led to a tough watch for viewers. That is, if viewers could even watch the event with the spinning circle popping up constantly.

      Netflix has since tried to redeem its abilities through two Christmas Day NFL games, yet flaws still emerged. 

     The most notable was the extremely varied halftime performances. During the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texas on Christmas, Beyoncé had an extravagant performance for an estimated $20 million.

     “She was joined by an all-star line-up including Post Malone, Shaboozey, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer and Tiera Kennedy,” said Netflix writer Henry Goldblatt.

     This differed heavily from the halftime performance at the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs game, which included only a small group of carolers who were not available for viewers to watch at home. Netflix had also advertised that Mariah Carey would perform at the Steelers’ kickoff, but this was a less than three-minute pre-recorded segment.

     Netflix is just one of the many sports streaming services that charge for subscriptions. Rather than turning on cable to find most games, viewers now have to pay for streaming services like Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+ and Paramount+ to find most games.

     With all of its buffering, inconsistent performances and bad quality, Netflix adds yet another not worthwhile subscription cost to the growing expenses of watching sports.