The Jake Paul-Mike Tyson boxing match might not have been the best bout ever for viewers, but it was for a couple of sports betting operators.
BetMGM and DraftKings told Covers on Monday that the highly anticipated Nov. 15 fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, took home a prestigious title.
“Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight is the most-bet combat sport (boxing and MMA) in BetMGM history,” senior trader Alex Rella said. “Paul winning was a good outcome for the sportsbook.”
A DraftKings spokesperson also confirmed that no other boxing match or MMA fight has ever received more wagering at the online sportsbook.
The fight didn’t offer knockdowns, knockouts, or tons of exciting moments, but it was a big draw for U.S. sportsbooks.
“In terms of handle comparison, the fight would be on par with an NFL Monday night game,” Craig Mucklow, Caesars vice president of trading, said. “We knew there would be tremendous interest in the fight, as the betting suggested it was a generational matchup in customer demographics. Those old enough to remember a prime Mike Tyson got to live the nostalgia one last time, while those not old enough to know 'Iron Mike' were firmly on the Jake Paul side of the counter.”
Big numbers
Neither BetMGM nor DraftKings shared any actual bet or handle counts for the fight, but the amounts, by comparison, were dominatingly historical.
Paul-Tyson, which ended with the influencer/entrepreneur winning by decision after eight two-minute rounds, saw three times the bets and four times the handle compared to any other combat sports event at BetMGM.
DraftKings said Paul-Tyson had 3.5 times more bets and handle than Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia, the previous boxing record-holder.
ESPN reported that Paul-Tyson was “the biggest boxing event” of 2024 at PENN Entertainment’s sports betting platform ESPN BET.
The fight was also the most bet combat sports event ever on ESPN BET and drew more than twice as much in wagers as the biggest MMA event since ESPN BET launched.
Big outcome
BetMGM was quite pleased with the outcome because 67% of the wagers and 53% of the money was on Tyson.
He opened as a +275 underdog, but the public hammered the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion down to +175 by the time the fight started.
The 27-year-old Paul was originally cast as a -275 favorite but dropped to -175. He got 41% of the handle but 16% of the tickets at BetMGM.
Not only did the winner bets go the house’s way, props did as well. Tyson winning by knockout, technical knockout, or disqualification (+250) was the most-bet fight prop at BetMGM. Tyson on points (+1,100) was second with Tyson to win the fight in the first round (+1,400) was third.
Big hype
The hype heading into the fight was astronomical, and viewers ate it up.
Netflix announced that more than 60 million households watched the fight with as high as 65 concurrent streams during Friday’s bouts, which included a women’s title fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano as the co-main event.
The streaming company said that fight was likely the most-viewed women’s sporting event ever in the U.S., reaching 50 million streams at one time.
However, Netflix users had technical issues as many viewers claimed the fight was difficult to stream. The company is broadcasting two NFL games on Christmas Day.
