Netflix 'cannot get away with' production issues for NFL games, ex-star Shawne Merriman warns
Former NFL star Shawne Merriman was among the supposed 60 million viewers who tuned into Netflix to watch Jake Paul’s unanimous decision victory over Mike Tyson.
Merriman was also among those who were left perplexed by the production’s quality. With an overload of viewers who streamed onto the platform around 8 p.m. ET, many customers experienced buffering issues. Additionally, the broadcast itself was plagued by strange cutaways, Tyson’s full moon and mics dropping out at the most inopportune time.
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Unlike most viewers who watched the fight, Merriman has experience in producing live sports television. Lights Out Xtreme Fighting, which the former San Diego Chargers linebacker founded, streams live on Lights Out Sports TV – the free channel he also founded.
The questionable production sparked worries among NFL fans, who worry what their experience will be like when Netflix streams two Christmas Day games. Down Detector said it had logged more than 85,000 complaints from users having issues during the fight.
"They can get away with what happened with the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fight. They cannot get away with the NFL because the one thing about the NFL, their product is No. 1," Merriman told Fox News Digital in an interview on Monday. "That shield, the look, the graphics packages, their transitioning from in and out of spots is pristine.
"You cannot under no circumstances botch an NFL broadcast and they have to work out all those kinks now and get the right crew there because the NFL is not going to tolerate that. The NFL’s brand is too big and one thing about the NFL, what we know and love is the production quality is at the highest standards you can get."
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Merriman said a ton of stress testing with equipment occurs before going live. He made clear there need to be backups to backups in case anything unforeseen happens during the live broadcast.
He suspected Netflix may not have had the right team in place for a live sporting event.
"It just seemed like they had a mixture of some outside people when it came to directors and producers while there was a lot of in house who didn’t understand how to go about live sports," he theorized.
"Live sports in general is tough, tough business and that’s why you got these select few that do a great job and been doing a great job at it for a long time."
Merriman said he produces a four-hour show for his MMA promotion and understood the difficulty some of the Netflix crew went through during the fight.
The former NFL star added he expected to get it right in time for the NFL – and later WWE – to come to the streaming service.
"They will get it right. I wasn’t too up on Amazon’s production when they first started ‘Thursday Night Football’ either," he said. "You can tell the difference and they got it right.
"Netflix will get it right. Also, I think it’s going to change the landscape of the NFL in the international market. So, they have to get that right because if they do, that’s a match made in heaven."
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