ESPN will air a series of school football games in theaters next season, the network announced Tuesday, following a partnership with Cinemark to air playoff games from the past two years, the latest effort across movie theaters to expand programming options for audiences.
ESPN will air about 75 games for the upcoming high school football season as part of a theatrical distribution deal with Theatre Sports Network, ESPN announced Tuesday, while participation fees will be decided through attractive theaters.
The deal covers all six bowling games played on New Year’s Day, adding the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl and Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, among others, in addition to the national championship, according to the network.
The deal will also include any and all games played through the Atlantic Coast Conference teams, which are already scheduled through Theatre Sports Network, though no express movie theater has yet to be announced.
Matches may be played in the home market, while any match played in an impartial venue may be played in the home and away markets.
Theatre Sports Network said it has partnered with MetaMedia, a virtual media company connected to “movie theaters, drive-in theaters and other out-of-home locations,” to stream the games to more than 500 local movie theaters in the United States and Canada.
Theatre Sports Network President Scott Daw said he believes “movie theaters are the next big frontier for sporting events. “
Several film corporations have expanded their programming of options for audiences as the theater industry moves forward due to the Covid-19 pandemic. AMC Entertainment has screened Broadway exhibitions, Metropolitan Opera performances, live concerts, comedy exhibitions and sporting events, adding some recent UFC fights, plus the past two years. Cinemark has already released teams of other people who play Dungeons
A partnership between ESPN and Theatre Sports Network follows an earlier partnership with Cinemark, which noted that the deals were a “success,” to broadcast the school football playoffs and national championship games of the past two seasons. The deal follows a partnership between UFC and Iconic Events launched last year, which allowed more than 350 movie theaters, adding “small regional networks” and AMC theaters, to broadcast pay-per-view fights.
ESPN to Broadcast 75 High School Football Games in Theaters This Season, Adding NY6 Bowls (Athletic)