Cinedigm scores with live football in 3D

By Sarah Sluis

Veteran FJI writer Doris Toumarkine ventured to Brooklyn, New York, to watch the BCS National Championship football game live in 3D at the Pavilion Theater. Here's her report on this sporting innovation:

Cinedigm (formerly AccessIT) scored a big first on Jan. 8 with the first-ever nationwide feed to cinemas of a live 3D sports event. This reporter, rooting from a seat at Brooklyn's Pavilion Theater, felt like she was almost on the 50-yard line for the FedEx BCS National Championship Game between the University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma.

I had a remarkably immersive experience watching the usually high-scoring Florida and Oklahoma teams showing defensive muscle and plenty of fighting spirit. The auditorium, one of two in the Pavilion where the game played, was packed. Cinedigm owns the theatre, which it calls its Digital Showcase Theatre.

Cinedigm, using its proprietary CineLiveTM Satellite Distribution Network, delivered the championship event to 80 theatres in 31 states, with 19 of those locations sold out. The company reported that the engagements grossed more than four times higher than the best per-screen gross that evening. Such a large turnout was all the more remarkable since the game was broadcast simultaneously on Fox TV and was the Nielsen ratings winner that evening against the broadcast competition.

The 3D visuals were spectacular (there was even great definition and color for fans in the distant grandstands) and the in-theatre event was also greatly enhanced by the Dolby 5.1 surround sound that assured that "we are there" feeling.

Cinedigm worked hard to keep the interstitial programming engaging. A 3D surfing short was such a hit, it got the Pavilion audience clapping.

And that audience was certainly loud and demonstrative during the game itself: The cheers, the groans, the shouting�anathema for movie screenings but a blessing here, as such audience participation actually contributed to the excitement and "reality" of the championship. Even the catcalls that greeted the vividly 3D cheerleaders evoked the real stadium setting, while reminding that we were an in-theatre minority among hot-blooded Brooklyn male sports fans. For once, talking back to the screen was not just appropriate, it was welcome.

The feed provided all the replays we love to see but didn't show the two superimposed clean lines on the field that designate where the ball is being played and where first down beckons, a perk beloved by TV viewers.

Cinedigm won't say what kind of fee was paid to Fox Sports, but the theatre event did have Sony as a sponsor. Whatever their deal, the Fox/Cinedigm partnership clearly demonstrated that the right kind of football event isn't just for a TV audience but is popular enough to attract fans of both the big and small screen without cannibalizing one medium.

What Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. might consider from this first go at live sports in 3D is that, beyond the 3D, there may be other ways to enhance the in-theatre experience by mimicking the live stadium experience. After all, stadium fans and movie fans alike get out of the house to a large venue for a big communal experience with like-minded souls. So why not designate theatre sections dedicated to the specific teams so that patrons, on a voluntary basis, can feel more team spirit? Or why not think about deals that allow for the sale in theatres of appropriate souvenirs? Or stadium-like concessions? Or why not have some kind of benign (legal!) in-theatre betting competition? Or why not provide more interstitial 3D programming of the caliber of that surfing short, a real audience-pleaser?

Cinedigm's live 3D football event worked big-time, but there's plenty to be learned from this first kickoff. Meanwhile, basketball fans will get a taste of live 3D sports from Cinedigm's Feb 14 NBA All-Star Saturday Night event. I'll sit that one out, as football and tennis are this movie fan's games. Tennis 3D, anyone?