This mksummer, going to movie theaters have become a novel way to enjoy the 2024 Paris Olympics, pioneering a new direction for live sports broadcasting. 

People watch the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics live in a cinema in the Haidian district of Beijing on July 27, 2024. Starting from July 27, hundreds of cinemas in China began broadcasting the Games live. Photo: VCG

In collaboration with China Film Group Corporation and CCTV, over 800 cinemas nationwide have been selected to bring the Olympic Games to the big screen, allowing Chinese audiences to relish the thrill of the competition in a grand setting.

Why have cinemas become the new venues for live Olympic broadcasts? 

The opening ceremony and several events of the Paris Olympics have been brought into theaters for the first time. With a simple reservation and ticket purchase through ticketing platforms, audiences can enjoy the 2024 Games with a bucket of popcorn, seating comfortably in a movie theater.

In comparison to watching on a TV or mobile device, the cinema provides an atmosphere that is hard to replicate. The unique physical space of a cinema, coupled with its large screens, immersive sound, and the ability to show details, offers an extraordinary audio-visual experience. 

Whether you're with friends or surrounded by strangers, everyone in the theater can feel a strong sense of identity and emotional resonance. Some attendees said that when the Chinese delegation appeared on the big screen, the audience waved national flags and cheered in unison, "Bravo China!"

Media reported that sports events such as table tennis, badminton, and diving, which are both visually appealing and dramatic, had also been shown on the big screen. 

How popular has watching the Olympics in cinemas in China been? The tickets for the table tennis finals and other events sold out quickly, and more cinemas are joining the ranks to apply for Olympic live broadcasts.

According to data from Beacon, an Alibaba-owned box-office tracker, starting from the live broadcast of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on July 27, up to Monday, the total box-office revenue from the live broadcasts in cinemas amounted to 2.115 million yuan ($295,899). 

On the evening of July 30, the live broadcast of the mixed doubles table tennis bronze medal and final match featuring Chinese paddlers alone garnered a box office of 1.12 million yuan. This match achieved 1 percent of the national box office with only 0.1 percent of the screenings. 

Industry insiders say that this initiative is expected to drive the exploration of new business forms for cinemas and send a positive signal within the industry.

The "cinema plus" operation model is an upgrade in the business format. For example, during this summer's box-office season, the film market was cold in June and only gradually warmed up with the release of films like Successor, Deadpool and Wolverine, andA Place Called Silence in July. However, the total box office for the summer season is still far behind the same period of 2023. On Tuesday, China's summer box office broke through the 8.4 billion yuan mark, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan.

Although live broadcasts of the Olympics in cinemas may not contribute much to the summer box office, they represent a new attempt that brings greater imagination and expectations toward cinemas among audiences. 

In fact, before the Paris Olympics, popular sports events such as the European Cup were authorized to be rebroadcast in cinemas. This not only leverages the strengths of cinemas and amplifies their advantages but also meets the consumer demand for a sense of presence without being on-site. 

More importantly, this approach will attract more audiences to enter cinemas.