From the Kerasotes official site:
NCM Fathom and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are partnering for the first Event in a series of 4 UFC Events that will be showcased in theatres throughout 2010. The first Event will feature George [sic] St-Pierre vs. Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy in the ultimate welterweight fight as well as the heavyweight championship fight between titleholder Frank Mir and his opponent Shane Carwin. Two world titles will be on the line in this one night event LIVE from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Outside of the mistakes made by the copywriter, this should be a very good partnership for the UFC. Consumers, up until now, were given two very distinct choices: watch the fights in the comfort of your own home for fifty bones or venture into the loud, crowded surroundings of your local sports bar.
The option of watching the fights in a movie theater provides a nice middle ground. You’ll have to give up the adult beverages, but you get a huge HD display, a comfy seat, and no college football game getting preference on the sound system.
Bad Left Hook reader cyke detailed his experience watching the Mayweather-Marquez fight in a theater:
Broadcasting in Hi-def on what I estimated to be at least a 20 foot screen versus buying the PPV at home was a no contest. My TV would not have even covered a small fraction of the fight area on the screen. Sitting in bucket seats with camera angles that caught the seemingly 10 foot fighters from the edge of the ropes provided a better view of the action than even the cornermen at the event had.
Normally, I would hate to have people talking or shouting at the screen during a movie. In this case, I welcomed it. Hearing the partisan crowd respond to good shots, flurries and knockdowns with various permutations of applause, boos and shouts of excitement only added to the live fight experience. Like a real fight, the crowd was sparse during the undercard, but continued to filter in and become more responsive as the night progressed. By the time the main event came around, the audience had divided into camps for each fighter and showed their allegiance with cheers or boos for both men. The theater was not packed, but the audience was comparable to a third day showing of a mainstream movie.
While I won’t be able to make the theater option my go-to choice for watching a fight (barring a wi-fi hot spot nearby), I’m seriously considering checking it out comes March 27th.