Netflix live: I watched Chestnut vs Kobayashi live on streamer - and here’s how it worked

• Netflix hosted a big live sporting event on Monday, 2 September. 
• Love Is Blind reunion episode in 2023 ran into trouble - how does the latest attempt fare. 
• And fans may wonder how exactly it works 

Netflix is getting into the live streaming game in a big way - with the giant picking up WWE Raw next year. And if its coverage of Chestnut vs Kobayashi is anything to go by, it is looking promising. 

Previous attempts at hosting live coverage on Netflix have been a bit of a mixed back. Infamously, the reunion episode for Love Is Blind in 2023 had an extremely rocky time - leaving disappointed fans waiting for over an hour. 

Netflix’s co-CEO Greg Peters apologised following the incident and promised “We’ll learn from it and we’ll get better”. Vanity Fair reported that he told investors: “We had just a bug that we introduced, actually, when we implemented some changes to try and improve live streaming performance after the last live broadcast.” 

But perhaps one of the most heavily hyped and advertised live events so far on Netflix came on Monday (2 September) night - so how did the live stream hold up? 

How does Netflix Live work? 

It is pretty much exactly the same experience as when you watch a boxset on the streaming giant. You just find the event - which is likely to be near the top of the app - and then all you have to do is hit play. 

Despite it being live, if you join the event slightly late you have the option to watch from the point you’ve tuned in - or you can go back to the start and catch up. There are also options to have subtitles but the only audio option for Chestnut vs Kobayashi was English. 

What was the live stream like? 

I have to admit I was super impressed with the quality of the stream on Chestnut vs Kobayashi. Having previously watched a fair bit of sporting live streams on Prime Video or Now TV, I’ve got used to the picture looking - fine. 

It is understandable that a live stream of an on-going event will not be in 4K UHD HDR (the works). Yet for this Netflix stream it was crystal clear - although it was not in a stadium and doesn’t take place on a pitch, requiring cameras further back from the action. 

It will be super interesting to see how Netflix’s future live streaming endeavours fair - and if they will attempt to get more sporting events. Have you watched anything live on Netflix, share your experience with our tech writer by emailing: [email protected].