ESPN is bringing the Atlantic Coast Conference to the big screen as part of a new theatrical distribution agreement with Theater Sports Network.
ACC college football games that air on ESPN platforms will be available for distribution in away team markets or in both home and away markets for neutral site games. The cost of attendance to watch the games will be determined by participating local movie theaters.
The pact — which also covers the New Year’s Six Bowl games including the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the Capital One Orange Bowl, the CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game and the College Football Playoff National Championship — includes a total of approximately 75 games during the 2023-24 college football season.
In a statement, Theater Sports Network president and COO Scott Daw said that movie theaters are “the next great frontier for live sporting events.”
“We believe that theaters have the ability to generate excitement around live sporting events. 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,” he added. “As we move forward, we hope to add games from additional college football conferences as well as other live sporting events.”
TSN is partnering with MetaMedia as its live streaming distribution partner. The cloud-based platform is currently connected to more than 5,000 screens across the U.S. and Canada’s top 50 cities, including drive-ins and out-of-home venues.
The agreement builds upon ESPN’s partnership with Cinemark in 2021 and 2022 to make the College Football Playoff semifinal and National Championship games available to fans in theaters.
