Instagram/@cthagod
Charlamagne Tha God practically begged Netflix to give the millions of viewers of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight a perfect streaming moment. While calling for something that could only be described as pre-cast-of-no-buffering-freezing-login-issues-and-just-plain-calamities-from-definition fiasco starting at 9 P.M., the fans started pouring in.
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The pay-per-view fight is Netflix’s first major PPV series for sports level, which according to Charlamagne places the reputation of Netflix on the line to successfully bring this huge event to homes across the world without any hiccup under the hashtag #CaneloCrawford. The implication is viewers would not be willing to compromise the viewing experience for this pay-per-view classic.
Reactions and comments poured in, with most agreeing with his concern. A follower shared yet another painful experience, “I had to upgrade my subscription during the damn fight 😭 quality was HORRIBLE 😂💯.” Those were the sort of sentiments-provoking anxiety that would come with having to offer with technical issues during other huge streaming-events.
The conversation and debate, however, soon spilled out of streaming experience and into the nuances of the fight itself-some made comments about the physical state of the fighters themselves. One post noted, “Yoo, Bud added those pounds nicely! 💪🏾” in regards to Terence Crawford moving up in weight classes to face the heavier Canelo Alvarez. That comment became a mini-debate in subsequent replies about whether Crawford’s new size would be a strength or a liability against Canelo’s power.
Another user said, “Somebody said this was Hennessy 🆚 Tequila Fight 🤣 That Brown ah lay ya Down‼️” giving a comical cultural observation as they characterized the fight as a clash of styles and personalities to complement the pre-fight hype.
In a rather snarky way, a fellow called Charlamagne out on his co-host’s proclaimed viewpoint, “uncle Charla needs to give himself donkey of the day on Monday for saying Bud was gonna lose.” Indeed, Charlamagne’s bad sports calls tend to be a subject of discussion amongst his constituency.
The corrosive tension created by this set of occurrences might best be summed up by a user who very dramatically suggests, “We all should sue Netflix if any issues tonight 🙌👏😢.” Whether exaggerated or not, this comment underlines the climate for reliability with which Netflix today faces-whether they deliver or not.
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Public calls of Charlamagne Tha God bear witness to the growing expectations being put on streaming giants-as Netflix and the like begin to pry into live sports, there is gargantuan pressure to give an experience that should be front to back with little disruption and distortion, akin to your cable broadcast. The Canelo vs. Crawford discussion really veered off from boxing into how well the stream would hold up-the dawning of a new era in viewership and criticism of big-scale sporting events. The success or death of any such endeavor is interdependent on a slick technical production ready to speak to an audience stiff with expectation.
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