ESPN will livestream regular season Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football and major New Year’s Bowl games into U.S. cinemas as part of an exclusive live-streaming partnership with Theater Sports Network and MetaMedia, a global entertainment platform that delivers movies and live events to cinemas.
The agreement covers the New Year’s Six Bowl games including the Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, the Semifinal at the Rose Bowl and the College Football National Championship Game. In all, it includes about 75 games during the upcoming football season.
“We feel there's a real opportunity to bring sports fans together in locations that have the best audio video, where they can watch their favorite players on a massive scale and screen, and do so in a family environment.” says Jason Brenek, CEO of MetaMedia. “The only options right now are to sit on the couch in your underwear, go to the sports event live or to a sports bar. And we think the theater experience provides a much better experience at a much more affordable price.”
Scott Daw, COO of Theater Sports Network, added, “Movie theaters are the next great frontier for live sporting events, and we are elated with this unprecedented agreement with ESPN. These events will replicate the feel of a football stadium experience as fans gather and fill theaters to watch the games on the big screen. As we move forward, we hope to add games from additional college football conferences as well as other live sporting events."
Following the permanent closure of over 2,000 North American theater screens due to the pandemic, the push to stream live sports could represent a cultural shift in the role of cinemas.
“At MetaMedia, our whole business model is built around expanding the programming that theaters can access and expanding their audiences,” Brenek said. “Movie theaters are operating at under 10% average capacity ... There’s thousands of things that can be done now to utilize these amazing spaces.”
Before it found itself in the immersive live-or-death struggle the pandemic required, AMC announced ambitious live-sports plans in 2019. It had hopes to implement sports broadcasting as a regular component of their screenings, but these plans were quickly crippled by the theatrical closures.
“It's just really clear that consumers want to gather together and experience things outside of the home,” Brenek says. “When the pandemic hit, we pivoted to drive in theaters across the U.S. We delivered concerts from Metallica and Bon Jovi and then expanded into UFC fights, wrestling, boxing, and ultimately e-sports competitions in theaters. So this was being tested in a big way by us.”
The ACC, which just today voted to acquire Stanford, Cal and SMU, has long trailed the Big Ten and SEC in revenue, although recent moves to expand earning sources saw the league climb to nearly $617 million in total revenue last season. With more teams and more games to stream, the timing of this deal could potentially help the league boost their numbers even further.
MetaMedia plans to specifically target the markets where schools are based, or in cities where alumni groups are located.
“For Florida State, we’re going to be playing a lot of theaters around Tallahassee,” Brenek explained. “For games like Notre Dame, we’re going to be hitting a lot of bigger markets because their fanbase is much more spread out. It’s really about delivering the right events to the right audience and making sure people enjoy it.”
Brenek also mentioned the possibility of partnering with local car dealerships and other businesses in order to host tailgates prior to theatrical screenings.
“It's about creating a social environment. Consumers should start thinking about their local theaters as something more than just playing movies,” urged Brenek. “Whether it be live sports, or things like the Taylor Swift concert, we’re really going to start educating consumers that they can look to their theaters for other types of programming.”
The cost of attendance to watch the games will be determined by participating local theaters. For a schedule of games in specific areas, fans can visit theatersportsnetwork.com.
