National Football League games continue to see strong viewership from fans and sports bettors in a world that has shifted away from viewing live content.
With the demand for sports content, media companies can benefit from strong advertising rates — something that AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC, the NFL and Taylor Swift may know “All Too Well.”
What Happened: Viewers flocked to the live coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets game on Sunday. The Sunday Night Football game was broadcast on NBC, a unit of Comcast Corporation and had the best viewership of any Sunday since the league’s Super Bowl in February.
Along with hearing frequent mentions of Swift and her rumored romance with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and seeing live shots of the musician in a box with other celebrities, viewers also heard more on the singer’s upcoming concert film.
Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film has been setting records for demand, something that could help AMC Entertainment Holdings. Even though the movie may not have needed more publicity, it may have gotten help from the NFL, as the league looks to capitalize on its new fanbase thanks to Swift.
According to a report from the New York Post, the NFL pressured its media network partners to air promotions for the upcoming concert film, which is set for an Oct. 13 release. Instead of the normal huge payday media companies get for ads during games, the NFL wanted the promos to be done free of charge.
ESPN, a unit of The Walt Disney Company, showed the promos during pregame shows on Sunday and Monday for NFL coverage on “Sunday NFL Countdown” and “Monday NFL Countdown” according to the report.
NBC showed a free promotion for the concert film during its “Football Night in America” pre-game coverage of the Chiefs and Jets game.
A Swift commercial aired during the Sunday Night Football game that was paid for according to sources.
Fox Corporation and Paramount Global, which are also media partners of the NFL, did not air the promo according to the report.
CBS, a unit of Paramount, has the media rights to the Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings game this Sunday, and it remains to be seen if the network uses the promo this week.
The following week of NFL games will include a primetime matchup between the Chiefs and Denver Broncos on Amazon Prime Video, a unit of Amazon.com Inc. The game will air the day before the film hits theaters.
According to the report, the league request was made on Friday, which came after Amazon aired its last NFL game.
Related Link: AMC To Distribute Beyonce's Tour Film In Movie Theaters This December
Why It’s Important: Media companies did not have to air the Swift promotion, but both ESPN and NBC did.
While the league’s media partners will question the request from the league or wonder how long they will have to give the singer free ad space, one company could benefit from the move.
AMC landed a partnership with Swift to release her concert film in theaters.
Demand for tickets to the concert film has set records, and, on Thursday, AMC reported over $100 million in advance ticket sales. AMC previously said that the concert film set a single-day company record for ticket sales by revenue, a strong feat for a company with an over 103-year history.
Along with showing the movie in its theaters, AMC has also signed deals with distribution partners for additional theaters to show the film, including several international partners.
In total, over 8,500 theaters in 100 countries will show the movie starting Oct. 13.
Free publicity from the NFL, one of the most watched leagues worldwide, along with the potential for more free promotions in the coming week, could help boost the film’s demand and potential revenue for AMC even further.
AMC Price Action: AMC shares are up 11% to $9.18 on Friday. Shares of the movie theater stock are down 85% in the last year.
Read Next: AMC Entertainment Stock Pops After Q2 Performance
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