Sports News
Plano-based Cinemark opens select theaters for college football playoffs
The Cinemark movie theater chain is bringing back a special viewing experience that involves not movies but sports: The Plano-based company is teaming with ESPN to bring college football games to the big screen.
This postseason, fans can catch three of the biggest games, and that includes the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2023.
Cinemark debuted this idea in 2021. According to a release, it proved to be sufficiently successful that they're not only bringing it back, they're expanding the number of theaters where it's offered, to a total of 70 theaters across the U.S. including 19in Texas, as follows:
- Austin - Cinemark Southpark Meadows
- College Station - Cinemark Movies 18 and XD
- Dallas - Cinemark 17 XD and IMAX
- Denton - Cinemark 14
- El Paso - Cinemark 20 XD and ScreenX
- Fort Worth - Cinemark Alliance Town Center and XD
- Grand Prairie - Cinemark Movies 16
- Grapevine - Cinemark Tinseltown Grapevine and XD
- Katy - Cinemark 19 and XD
- Lubbock - Cinemark Movies 16 and XD
- McAllen - Cinemark Hollywood USA
- McKinney - Cinemark North McKinney and XD
- Pasadena - Cinemark Hollywood Movies 20
- Pflugerville - Cinemark 20 and XD
- Plano - Cinemark West Plano XD and ScreenX
- Rockwall - Cinemark 14 Rockwall and XD
- San Antonio - Cinemark San Antonio 16
- The Woodlands - Cinemark 17 and XD
- Waco - Cinemark Waco and XD
The full list of theaters where it's available is online.
"Cinemark is thrilled to once again offer college football fans an opportunity to watch this year’s most anticipated games in our immersive, shared environment, especially given the enthusiasm we saw in our theaters last year," says Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark Chief Marketing and Content Officer.
"We are thankful for the collaboration with ESPN and our ability to bring this year’s games to even more cities as we expand participating locations," Fearing says. "Our larger-than-life screens and booming surround sound create the ultimate experience for fans to cheer on their team without missing a single heart-pounding play."
The schedule is as follows:
- December 31, 3 pm: No. 2 Michigan will square off against No. 3 TCU in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
- December 31, 7 pm: No. 1 Georgia will take on No. 4 Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
- January 9, 6:30 pm: The winners of the two games will go head-to-head for the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T
All showings will include ESPN’s live pre-game studio programming.
To see the games in theaters, fans can reserve a seat when they purchase a $10 concessions package. Sales kick off on December 13. For information on participating theaters and to purchase concessions packages, visit Cinemark.com/CFP or the Cinemark mobile app.