Sound Off #113 - Cinema's Pivot, Paramount-Warner impacts on IP, & more!

Sponsored by Intercard!
Sponsored by Alan-1!

On this week's show we argue why cocktails outperform sports bars for modern social entertainment and follow the money across trade show turmoil, studio mega-deals, and cinema’s pivot. We map how consolidation, new tech, and fresh attractions change what wins on a Friday night.

• cocktails driving higher-margin, faster-turn experiences
• regional conflict stalling trade shows and investments
• Paramount–Warner merger impacts on licensed IP and LBE
• Six Flags divestment and REIT-led operating models
• active entertainment shifting to gamified exergaming
• cinema attendance declines vs IMAX premium growth
• AI smart glasses risks and venue policy needs
• social media rewards linking posts to spend
• projection-mapped archery and premium shuffleboard
• upcoming expo sessions and where to find us

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Transcript

Opening & Cocktail Thesis

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Are you on the edge of your seat? Because we are about to start with Evelyn Williams, covering today's latest trends in location-based entertainment. Brought to you by the LBX Collective, your community to connect and inspire. All right, everyone, let's buckle up.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

All right. Well, welcome everybody to Sound Off with Kevin Williams. This is episode number 113 for March 10th, 2026. Kevin, my friend, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Very well. Very spring-like day here in London. I hope the weather is good where you are.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Uh, it is going back to spring-like. We were uh we had a bit of a heat wave last week, so it's nice for it to finally get back to where it should be. It was a little bit concerning there for a minute that we were just gonna skip over spring and go right into summer in March.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

So it feels like that normally, but anyway.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

Yeah, all right. Well, let's do it. How are you going to change my mind?

Cocktails vs Sports Bars Economics

SPEAKER_03 1:02

Well, you know, read the title carefully, everyone. But cocktails are more impactful than sports bars in uh the new industry. So if you're running a facility, it's more impactful to have a cocktail bar than maybe it is uh to have your traditional sports bar. Am I wrong?

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Uh well, you're talking to a cocktail guy, so you're never going to be wrong with me if you're serving up a cocktail. But uh no, I would totally, especially if we're talking about in the social entertainment, uh competitive socializing space, cocktails are 100% uh more impactful and more important than having a sports bar viewing area. Uh, this is, you know, people are there to spend time with each other, to play games with each other, and also to have good drinks and good food while doing it. And, you know, the the at least in those environments, in what we'll call, but I think you're calling the new industry, sitting down on a chair and watching a game with a beer in my hand is not what I'm going to those venues for.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

And it's not as profitable. So, where many people will have jumped by reading these titles and think the more profitable, impactful, just means it stands out, it's speaking differently uh than the norm, and it offers something unique to your audience that's coming in. Everybody has been to the traditional sports bar. And I would even argue the the modernized sports bar, the uh the picture that I'm using here of a sports bar is a modern take on the traditional sports bar uh approach. It has the big screens, it has the stools by the uh side of the bar, but it is designed in a much more modern aesthetic. Uh, again, cocktails are going to be more profitable for your business in the short term and in the long term, because no matter what you say, Joe Schmoe sitting at that uh desk bar with his brewski in front of that. That bruske is going to last a lot longer than Charlie and her friends buying a virgin cocktail at that bar and then coming back a couple of minutes more to buy another one. So again, we have to go for horses for courses, and we also have to uh realize that we're in the hospitality sector. Uh a realization that is going to be very prevalent this month.

Sponsor Break: Intercard

SPEAKER_01 3:23

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Trade Shows Scramble & Cancellations

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Well, thank you, Intercard, and straight into the economy. And anyone having a quiet Friday a couple of uh days ago in England uh uh was minding their own business and then world war whatever started up. I'm not here to go into uh what the conflict was about. I'm here to look at the impact that this particular measure has had. And the first thing that was came very clear on the 28th on Saturday and on the Sunday uh was that the air corridors were being closed down. Uh, airlines decided not to go there, and the list of countries went on like a who's who in the region. Uh, and remember, this is an area where the theme park and amusement and entertainment industry had a lot of interest, especially at this time uh of the year, because boom, we had the first statements on the 2nd uh of March from the Trade Association saying that they were on a rock watch in brief regarding what they were going to be doing, uh, regarding their plans at the end of this month to hold their uh a normal trade uh event, as well as uh the uh obvious impacts that this would have in May if this particular conflict, uh the trouble uh situation was going to continue. Some uh doves and some hawks had uh differing views of how long this would be, surgical strike or quick uh quick kill, whatever the scenario was, it's escalated. And uh you know, we have seen now the US uh give an alert to its uh citizenry uh in the region within 14 of the countries. I know that that's increased since recording this, uh, to leave uh if possible. And uh we in the UK have uh instigated the same process with our citizens, and other countries are doing that. And it became obvious that it was untenable for the uh trade associations to think that they were going to be able to get away with that. Now, that said, at the time of recording this, um, an official statement from Ayalpa regarding the cancellation has not been made. Uh, what the situation is that a number of very prominent uh exhibitors at the show have announced that they will not be attending the show and that they have cancelled for the various reasons, uh, and uh they turned the arguments to Ayalpa to give their official statement. Many of us are surprised why it has taken so long for an official statement to come, but uh there are a lot of wheels in motion here, uh, and uh large amounts of money will be impacted by the cancellation of this trade event. Uh then a couple of seconds ago, from uh putting this deck together, uh, we suddenly got the announcement that our friends at the Themed Entertainment Association had cancelled their plans to hold their companion events. Uh, they are partnered with IALPA on a number of occasions where they will hold themed entertainment uh association events around the same time as IALPA events, and there had been plans for their Middle East event to take place, which uh sadly did not come to fruition. But going back to the core component here, this area was treated by many industries, investors within our sphere of influence as the fastest growing market for tourism, leisure, and entertainment. When you see missiles crashing into hotels uh within those catchments, when you see cruise ships with full of tourists stranded and stuck and trying to work out how to evacuate, then we know that no matter how hopeful some were that this would be a short, sharp shock situation, that the reverberations from what is happening now will be felt for more than just a couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, this is uh obviously without going into any thoughts or opinions on the you know current conflict. Um, you know, for our sector, especially its impact in uh in Dubai, its impact in Abu Dhabi, uh for our you know, leisure, hospitality, entertainment sector, this is uh this is a big impact. Uh, you know, because you mentioned it's the fastest growing uh region right now for our sector. And uh this just puts a uh full parking break um and into reverse uh at some level uh right now, anyway, that momentum. And uh and so it's just it's disappointing. That being said, I think the uh I think I have a dodged a bullet, uh frankly. Um, and I don't mean that actually um uh uh unintended, I guess. Um, but they uh they they did uh in that I'm not sure that this um that this Middle East expo was going to be as successful as maybe they had hoped, at least this first one. I do believe that it will get its legs under it and it'll ramp up, but I think that this was probably actually really good. Um I do know that a number of their largest vendors, a lot of largest MS suppliers who have exhibited, have been global exhibitors uh around um and been you know multiple expos were not planning on exhibiting. They were going to just send one or two people to watch the floor to get a sense for it and for attendance. But you know what? Exhibitors brings attendance. And so if you don't have exhibitors, then there's gonna be less attendance. And so I feel like it was probably a good thing that this had uh that this uh that this expo that ramped up really fast out of nowhere um was put on hold.

Disney’s Regional Strategy Under Pressure

Paramount–Warner Deal Fallout For LBE

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Uh every cloud has a silver lining. Uh from their point of view, this is at the COVID moment, they're not going to be as much pained by the loss of so many shows uh at once. Uh the Trade Association needs to show some leadership, though. I I I would argue that they needed to have moved a little faster than they have, but that's a personal opinion. I will just put this into a little bit more perspective. Some people haven't really been looking at the the wider picture, but um Walt Disney plans to build a major theme park entertainment prospect bang in one of the locations that is going to be is being hardest hit by this situation. Whatever happens next, how quickly this is resolved, hopefully in a positive direction, that does put pressure. This is, I would argue, the um Disney Paris moment uh all over again, where Disney had the opportunity to build in Spain, where there was going to be better weather for their uh Euro Disney facility, and they decided at the last minute to move because of financial reasons uh to Paris. Uh, the same way there was another plan of where in the Middle East Disney could have opened up their first uh um foray into this region, and they decided again, courtesy of larger investment, to relocate it to uh Abu Dhabi. So we will we will need to see uh what ramifications here. Moving on to the biz, and uh a lot of surprised individuals wandering around. Um, hey, it was gonna be Netflix. Well, as we said, nothing was set in stone, and it was a very fluid situation. Surprise, surprise, the board uh went with the largest amount of money that was dropped in front of them. Uh, they took one look at the Potto Cash and uh the Paramount put in front of the Warner Brothers uh executive team, and they said our shareholders will like that, and we will like that a lot. This is a marriage made in heaven, it is less uh politically challenging, shall we say? And Netflix went, hey, we're not getting into a bidding war. We weren't even going to be buying all of your operation. We were gonna be cherry-picking the bits that we wanted. This ain't worth it, goodbye. And with that statement, we're backing out, their stock numbers went up. Very telling.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:31

Compared to Paramount, whose numbers have been impacted quite heavily by the announcement that they're going to be adding debt upon debt upon debt. Uh, the questions are which components are going to be kept and which are going to be farmed off, which IP is going to be changed. Uh, how much of an influence uh do you have after you've already blown uh 110 billion uh on this particular acquisition? A lot more questions with Paramount taking over Warner Brothers, I would argue than if Netflix uh had uh just uh brought the bits that they wanted. And as always, the ramifications for us in the location-based entertainment industry are considerable. Paramount and Warner Brothers have very strong transmedia representation in our sector from IP being used on theme park attractions to actual venues based upon um the uh the IP, how this will impact the Paramount range of facilities, how franchise agreements uh and especially some new projects that Paramount was involved in discussing, how these will all be impacted by this, uh, will be uh felt for some time. And there's always that one uh 10% chance that uh there may be a draw or a delay in this, as um you know, the uh the the governmental involvements, the European government, uh as well as the American government will have to give scrutiny to this deal. And you know, there's always the danger, especially after the midterms, that something could uh act as a speed bump in uh this being a done deal. But I'm gonna say it's as done as it's going to get so far.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Yeah, I mean, look, it's gonna fly right through uh the administration, the the the review. I mean, unless something happens in the administration in the next uh few years and they don't get this thing done and buttoned up in the next six months before midterms, which I'm sure they're they're trying to shoot for. This is gonna get through uh you know with with uh you know smooth sailing. I don't think uh I think this is I think this deal is happening. Um and you know, from a debt standpoint, at least a good significant amount of the debt is daddy's debt, and um, you know, so we could argue it's friendly debt um that's coming in here to buy uh you know to buy this thing. So um such thing. Little boy Ellison gets his uh gets his uh you know Christmas uh present and he gets to have fun with another uh big set of IP.

Six Flags Divestment And REIT Angle

SPEAKER_03 15:06

He gets fun with a new set of IP with a direction that is now going to be a little bit more focused away from the previous message that they've been trying. Uh and we've already started to see the first victims. I agree, this is going to move so fast it's gonna mush your hair. But uh there is always the unknown, the Rumsvelians are appearing at this point in time, and I would be cautious to say that it will be quick, smooth sailing, but I do believe that this is where we are going to be in six months' time. Moving on, and we touched upon this uh in the previous open and shut, but we can go into a little bit more detail. This was a you know suddenly appeared on our radar as actually happening to give a little bit more background. Six Flags Entertainment during their investor uh recent investor call had been asked a question by one of those investors regarding rumors that they were offloading at least five of their park uh operations, and they poo-pooed that and said it was rumor, speculation, they don't comment on that. But we uh knew that something was going on. We had found filings, that there was um a new brand being created for at least five of uh their pre uh their current parts at that time, and then uh we woke up a couple of days ago to the news that they have decided to divest themselves, not of five now, but of seven uh of their uh park operations, bringing the operation down now to 34 facilities. And this divesting um it's an interesting one. Um we're not given the full reason for the divesting. Is it because these were a drag, weren't felt surplus to operation, were uh were vampire or competing with other parts in the area uh uh owned by the operation? And the big question, the uh question that everybody is asking is are these going to be closed down or are these going to be sold off? And the rumor seems to be on the street that there is a third party in the wings that will be picking up these uh operations as going concern. This is as much information as we have at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Yeah, it's interesting. The little bit of research I was able to do uh here you know recently is that EPR properties, uh, their real estate investment trust uh is actually making this acquisition. Um right now, at least Wall Street Journal is reporting that there's you know, the acquisition is for up for all seven of these parks for about 330 to 345 million.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

Um and this Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, for seven facilities.

United Parks Miss & Accountability

SPEAKER_01 17:58

That is that is what Wall Street Journal is reporting anyway, currently. So um, and uh, you know, and this is really just like this is literally just uh hours ago that this uh that it was revealed that EPR is the um is is the one that's making this acquisition. Now the question is still will they're not an operator, right? So they're a real estate investment trust. Will they bring in an operator or will an operator come in and you know, and basically EPR is buying these and they're doing a lease back to a new operator for uh you know operating these parks? I would be very surprised if they're just going to raise the ground and put something else in these places. Most of these parks are not built in places that um you know are going to support some sort of big retailtainment environment or some big warehousing district or whatever. So um I would imagine that they are planning to do some kind of lease back to some new operator or existing operator.

Genda’s North America Consolidation

SPEAKER_03 18:52

Uh without going into too much detail when digging out the information that they were looking at divesting a couple of weeks ago or months ago now, it was uh made clear to us that a new brand had been created, uh, a unique brand that all of these venues were going to be going under. That type of thing means that you're going to be running those facilities as non-badged six flags facilities, and that would mean a third-party operator, in my estimations. But again, as Brandon has outlined, this is changing per hour, like most things seem to be doing in this life at the moment. Moving on, and uh we had a little bit more exposure of how some operations are finding uh the conditions. Uh, our friends are United Parks and Resorts, you know, they run quite a few of the more popular of the water parks uh and water resorts facilities, and they had to admit that uh their you know their 2025 numbers didn't meet their expect uh their expectations. Uh they blamed a number of interesting areas why they were impacted in that uh uh neck of the woods. They tried the weather complaints, um the weather was in the sky and it wasn't the right type of weather. Uh they you know they blamed a number of things, international tourism, without really pointing to themselves or saying that they weren't offering uh the uh entertainment that the audience was expecting. Uh whatever the reasons, all eyes now will be fixed on what their 2026 numbers are like to see if this is a serious trend impacted by the lack of tourism in their key areas.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yeah, I mean, we can blame I mean that this this just looks like a you know you know the the Spider-Man pointing, you know, at each other, you know, at that here's all the different things going on. Um, you know, look, yeah, negative international tourism trends, sure. Volatile weather, yeah, sure, right? They're insane. Like this is what every single outdoor park has to deal with, all the way down to a hundred thousand square foot or five-acre FEC, right? Is is volatile weather. Like you know, this, you deal with it, you build it into your model. This is not a surprise, and it shouldn't be a surprise for United Parks and Resorts.

SPEAKER_03 21:16

So uh and you change your pricing accordingly.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yes, exactly. Exactly. Uh so anyway, um, you know, it they they didn't meet their expectations, so can fix something.

Fitness Mashups In Social Entertainment

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Yeah, and if you don't uh bleep fix something, there are a lot of uh individuals in their suit's uh C-suite operation and their board of investors that will bleep in guarantee that it gets change. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a uh a new effort in charge. But anyway, personal opinion it is a traded company. It's that gender moment. I think I'm gonna just dedicate one page in Every sound off to Genda. I think it's it's just gonna we'll have a little stock ticker in the corner. We'll have which company anyway. The uh Gender made some announcements. We talked about the last sound off about the uh player one turning into Kiddleton and uh the unification of their operation, and now we get more transparency on what happens to Gender North Americas. That S is important. Uh, and we're now hearing that this is going to be the consolidating uh operation. So the Kiddleton uh US and Canadian operations will fall under all of this, uh, and that also the Gender Americas will take full control of the 12,000 mini locations, uh mini-arcade locations uh that they have in that particular area. Very telling that this consolidation is creating a very strong power structure in this neck of the woods. And to consolidate Ganda's interest in North America, we suddenly get the cinema moment. Uh, for those of you who've been following the bingo card, Ganda picked up uh Gaga. Who comes up with this? Anyway, Gaga, which is uh the cinema uh IP and entertainment component of the Japanese operation, and they have just turned around and said, now as they're part of Gender Group, that they are going to be bringing over certain of their Japanese IP films and distributing and having them screened in over 600 uh cinemas in the US and Canada. This is a momentous moment. This is the uh K-pop demon hunter moment where the audience is keen and hot to particular Asian IP properties, and you will be able to go to a cinema with your friend and watch that particular uh uh anime on the big screen. This will appeal to a very niche audience that are in very large numbers. And I wouldn't be surprised if this is a secret revenue generator for uh the Genda Americas operation having access to this kind of cinematic uh uh property.

Merlin Resets LEGO Partnerships

SPEAKER_01 24:21

This, yeah, I mean, this is I did not know, first of all, that Genda also owned Gaga or Gaga or however you want to say it. Um, but it's a it actually is a brilliant match at some level, right? So they're going to bring all of this IP, this Japanese anime IP, over here, get it into cinemas, get kids and young adults and adults to watch it, and then want to go to a one of the many Genda outlets, Kittletons, for example, one of the Kittletons, uh, and go and uh and get this IP. So it's a full circle. They are controlling the distribution of this anime. They're not out there creating it, at least at this point, but they're at least controlling the distribution, and then they are offering lots of opportunities to buy that uh in retail through Gashapone and Cranes and everything else.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

I'm looking forward to the first retail entertainment facility that works out. They've just missed out on a big opportunity, and they will beg to have Gender merch uh as available product. As we've talked about in previous sound off, Gender had increased its partnership with Toy and Figurine developers, and those fall directly into this. Um, our friends at Sega are working on a similar business model where they will make sure that their IP is available mostly through their uh stores, and we do know of our friends at Bandai Namco who have the Namco cross store operation. This is the beginning of a momentous move, and I wouldn't be surprised if our friends in the branding and licensing industry take a lot more interest in what's going on here. So you uh eat all of the breadsticks, excuse me, and uh you uh play a couple of games of golf and roll some pickled ball, but you're putting on those pounds. Well, our friends at uh Five Irons have done a deal with their New York uh facility where you can uh move into their private members' gym fitness facility next door. Um I'm not sure if this is just a one-off because they're very close to uh a member's uh gym and they thought it was a kind of synergetic, i.e., you know, maybe you do a couple of uh lines of golf and then you go in and uh do some exercise and then you shower off and come back in to enjoy some cocktails and some bolingo. Uh whatever the concept, this isn't the only time we're seeing sport taman uh being added. And we even now have uh news that an Evo facility is going to be putting in a sports facility next door to uh one of their operations, Pickleball Court, uh, with a partnership with a particular company there. So uh, you know, this is sport tamen writ large, but again, the jury's still out whether this is a serious move or an opportunity that they built upon.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Uh I'm hoping it's just a an uh a random opportunity that this isn't somehow part of an expanding business model. Uh already Fiveiron has uh we know has already expanded into the duckpin and other, you know, in other assets. They have in some of their locations, they have some other attractions besides duckpin as well. Um, and and we've already talked about the branding issue that they have with Fiveiron Golf and in their logo, given the fact that they are now blending other attractions. You throw in some fitness and it just gets uh it gets messed, it gets messy. Uh, this is uh actually a stupid mix, I think, personally. Um so let's just hope that this is synergistic for this particular uh Rockefeller Center.

Trampoline To Exergaming Consolidation

Cinemas Decline, IMAX Surges

SPEAKER_03 27:56

I hope so too. Uh and again, as we said previously, our friends at Five Iron are going to need to have a sit-down about their brand positioning and what they want to put in. Don't go for the spaghetti moment at this point. You really need to come up with a dedicated approach. Uh lovely friends at Merlin, and uh the restructuring of their relationships with various projects has uh gathered momentum. We suddenly woke up to the announcement that they would be pulling out of uh offering management services to the Amsterdam attraction, uh, a troubled attraction. This was a flyer soaring uh experience, uh flying over Holland. Uh the concept really opened up in 2017. It's gone through a couple of management problems. Then Merlin stepped in to offer their expertise and they put it back on the straight and narrows and effective uh installation, uh addition to their retinue. And then suddenly we wake up to the news that they're they're deciding to move on. Uh that uh they're now handing it back to the uh uh the existing management as a daily control, and um Merlin are focusing on their uh their core business in other areas, and that kind of adds to the completion of the deal of Merlin separating from their uh control over the Lego discovery zone uh operation again. Um you know, we we charted this last year when we broke the story back in September that you know it was going to be happening, and uh you know we raised an eyebrow. Uh we've you know got a little bit more detail that um you know the 29 facilities uh were acquired from uh by Lego for uh 260 million pounds, uh sorry dollars. Um it was a different number obviously in pounds. And I questioned at the time back in September that this seemed a little light. Was debt involved in this, was other things going into this? No more detail has been given, it's just been cemented that this separation has taken part. And the big question is if you've lost the discovery zones, how long before you lose the resort business as well?

SPEAKER_01 30:15

That is the question, right? Uh, they in the press release that came out confirming the completion of this uh, you know, of this acquisition, they reaffirmed their love for Lego and that they will continue to operate the LEGO land parks. Um, so uh we will see, but it does lead, you know. I think Lego is making the same play that Hasbro has done and Mattel has done, and and that is to directly enter the location-based entertainment and transmedia uh area themselves. And so it would be, I think, just a limited period of time before Lego gets their sea legs under them with regards to these discovery centers and says, you know what, we have bigger aspirations, we want to take back control of our larger theme parks as well.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

Very telling how that uh press release was worded, I thought. Um, it was extreme positivity, but also very aimed at uh Lego defining exactly what was going on, where uh compared to the information we had back in in September that was a little bit more fluffy. Merger and acquisitions abound at this point in time, and really the March, April, May period is going to be pretty heavy uh on that. Um, if you're not familiar in Europe uh with the uh ninja kids uh experience, um, they have about uh, let's see, last count, about 20 facilities out there offering an active entertainment trampoline and climbing uh wall experience, and they've gone out and consumed uh uh you know another operation in their bully wick and uh flight adventure parks. They have about 11 parks, uh should I just say active entertainment facilities with uh climbing and uh ball pits and stuff like that, foam pits. Um it's it's one that I keep a uh a tentative eye on because a number of these facilities now are migrating from the trampoline to active entertainment and then from active entertainment to gamification and exagaming. And we know that uh some of these sites have uh valo motion systems inside them, so they kind of fall into my bully wick. This is just another example of the consolidation that's taking part in that particular industry that we should be mindful of.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Yeah. Interesting that I would have expected actually flight to go the other direction. Um, so that flight would have acquired Ninja Kids action park versus um Ninja Kids acquiring flight. But you know, sometimes you get these opportunities where the ownership is ready to retire, exit, etc., and um you know somebody else happened to have a little bit of extra cash.

Sponsor Break: Allen One

AI Smart Glasses Privacy Risks

SPEAKER_03 33:00

Uh if you'd gone back to a couple of uh open and shots, you would have noticed that we had mentioned that the uh flight had lost one of their venues to acquisition. So, yes, I would would say that maybe you're pointing uh closer to the reality of the situation, which is that this management feels that this is more advantageous than fighting the battle themselves. And then we touched upon this in open and shut previously, but we can go a little bit more into the meat of the situation. Our friends at AMC uh in their latest reporting uh you know gave us a picture of woe. Uh, you know, they were looking at a 10% drop in attendance uh during the uh 2025 uh Q4 period or ending Q4 period. Um, you know, they turned around and said no bones about this. Their CFO stated that they will be shuttering a number of their locations while uh rumor has it internally the company is now looking at diversification of its cinema offering and how best it can uh try and write this uh depreciation of uh attendance. And that kind of mirrors what we're seeing uh across a lot of the traditional cinema operators that they are seeing in the ranges of between 10 and 15 percent uh shortfall in attendance. And we were lucky enough to uh calibrate, uh, did a report, uh, their big screen shift reports uh a couple of days ago, and that gave us quite a clear picture of how some of these cinema chains are experiencing uh shortfall in audiences. Um, they can't blame the weather, uh they can't blame international tourism. You know, they have they have only one person to blame, which is the audience made it very clear back in the noughties that the entertainment cinema experience wasn't cutting mustard and wasn't worth their disposable income and that things needed to improve. The promises of new films and new franchise properties coming along and saving the day did not materialize. And now I think that uh all of those operations, bar one, are going to have to bite the bullet and look at Cinatanment uh as a serious opportunity for their flagship sites. The reason I left our Cinemark is because Cinemark's already made that transition and is benefiting from that.

SPEAKER_01 35:39

Yeah. I think what's really telling, actually, here is uh doing some quick research on IMAX. And IMAX has actually seen the opposite issue, in which they've were driven, they had a phenomenal 2025. Uh, so maybe an out, maybe in a bit of an outlier given some of the films that came out in IMAX last year, but uh they have a 40, 40 percent year-year increase in global box office and a 16% growth in total revenue, um, which you know, adjusting for EBA does about a 33% increase. And so um yeah, I think that is telling in that there's two audiences. There's the audience that's looking for the blended entertainment model, which is where you know we're seeing this entertainment and mixed attractions, mixed use coming into play here, or maybe we'll go see a movie and play some bowling, or you know, maybe we'll just go play bowling and not see a movie today. Um, but you know, they're the nearest uh FEC to me. Um, but then you have the audience that wants to just really experience a phenomenal film uh in a full IMAX immersive, deeply immersive experience and film experience. And so um, I think that this uh you you they really are going to need to go in two directions. You know, IMAX will uh continue to deliver that really deeply immersive film experience while these others are gonna have to cater to the more casual consumer.

Social Media Rewards In Arcades

SPEAKER_03 37:01

The experience. IMAX has always been about the experience, seeing a film in an experience that you can't emulate at home. The argument is with our friends in the more traditional cinema, what do they bring to the table to make an experience? And at the moment, sticky floors and expensive popcorn ain't it. For those of you that are interested in the tourist of pain and where some of these companies fit in, there it is. Uh though I would actually argue that our Merlin one needs to move a little bit and our Paramount needs to move a bit, but it was uh done more for aesthetics anyway.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

All right, well, coming up after the other quick break, we'll uh continue with some more trends. Power up your game floor with arcades by Allen One. Whether it's perfectly foreign drinks and doctors code explaining, having official black something to push to use, or defending cities with attack myself command recharge. Alan One has something for every venue in arcade floor that will delight your guests. Each game is also enhanced laterally easy for it. Free appeared to scores and brings guests back to your venue for more. Visit AllenDash1.com to learn more. That's AlanDash1.com.

Archery Games Enter Competitive Socializing

SPEAKER_03 38:10

Thank you, Alan Long. And we jump into the tech trends. So I commented on the last sound off watch this space after the founder of Meta and Facebook got lambasted by the judge. Uh and I sort of intimated that many people said that there was no way to police this technology or to protect yourself against the AI smart glass revolution, as it were. Well, someone's come up with an app, there's always an app for that, that will actually uh notify you, give you an alert if you are in close proximity to the Bluetooth signals that are associated with AI smart glasses. A very useful tool. And I've been looking at this tool, and uh some in the theme park and entertainment industry have been looking at this tool because we do not want to have the problems that are exploding at the moment in reporting. We are hearing lots of stories now of people using their smart glasses in inappropriate areas and locations and collecting inappropriate information for private viewing. And then this was all doubled upon only a couple of days ago with the announcement that the companies that have been collecting the data for these smart glass systems have been having to watch this information as it is being compiled by their AI smart tools, overseeing the collection of this. So if your glasses are still on when you go to the bathroom, then there is a strong possibility, even though you thought that that information was only for your usage, that it may have actually been watched by an external corporation uh associated with the data collection. A lot of questions have been raised over a lot of situations and questions in media articles and really pointing to the point that this is an issue. And having a tool on that tells you that people are wearing these glasses and also possibly recording without your permission is going to be very profitable. Uh, and I'm telling anyone now that is walking around AEI with these glasses on, I will be asking them to take them off if they're asking me any questions.

Premium Shuffleboard Concepts

SPEAKER_01 40:34

Yeah, that's interesting. Um clever, um, clever little app that's been built here, but the first of many. Yeah, I mean but I will uh well I think it's it's too early yet, I think, to see how this will all shake out. However, I do not uh we are humans are tool users, humans are technology, we are basically becoming cyborgs through our use of technology, whether we're embedding those that technology into our bodies or not. Um, it's only a matter of time before these things become relatively ubiquitous. And if not through the form of glasses, then they'll come through the form of contacts. And um, and so we are if there's a way to get more information faster and improve our cognitive load and ability through uh easy access, through AI and everything else, we will continue to do that. That is what we do, and we'll continue to push the front end. And so I think that while I appreciate the something like nearby glasses, I believe that you're that the that that side of the the world will you know be pushing a boulder up a hill like Sisyphus and will just be pushing against the world.

Upcoming Expo Sessions & Closing

SPEAKER_03 41:49

Totally agree. Uh, no matter how much I may bulk at people uh having that technology, it is going to find a way in if it is a tool, if it is a benefit, if it does bring uh a benefit to its user compared to not having that. That's the reason why we have mobile phones, no matter how much we may bulk at the tracking tool that we have allowed into our lives, and a tool that even now may be recording this very conversation without my knowledge, um, purely because of the benefits that it brings to the table. What I'm saying now is if we don't lay down the guidelines early, then we're going to have a baptism of fire for this technology. And I wouldn't be surprised if the concern over meta generally uh may impact their tools, where other companies, their AI glasses, wouldn't have got a second look. Uh, our friends at round one in Japan have been embracing social media and have come up with uh some new packages uh for those individuals in their Japanese facilities that kind of link the if you post you're having a good time kind of fandom uh enjoyment, social media circulation, then this is linked to an application that can generate points. You kind of see where this is going. Um, Cheers Spot uh is being trialed at the moment at selected round one uh facilities in Japan. And if it does well with their core audience, then don't be surprised if a translated version of that pops up here in the US and Europe.

SPEAKER_02 43:38

Yeah, it's not much I don't know that I have yeah, much to say about this.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

We've talked about axe throwing, we have darts, why not have a bit of archery? Well, our friends uh Lexotron uh have uh done their archery system, and we have another company uh Entering the market, uh Archery Time, a European company, has dropped into 30 facilities around Europe. Their competitive socializing archery system, it is full-on, it is uh you know, it is a bow, it is pointed arrows, and it is a uh fiber wall. The big difference, of course, is projection mapping where games uh or uh sports are projected on that uh wall that are tailored to suit the market. From the video of the system in operation, it is archery uh but with a competitive spin. You know, it is the alternative of having uh clay pigeon shooting, but the difference here is that is a pointed arrow being shot at, uh, and it does need a higher level of skill, I would say, than wielding uh a plastic shotgun. I would also argue that the company behind this needs to work a little bit more on its themality and its space model, and maybe it will have to have the big argument about does it need to be firing real arrows uh at the screen, or maybe a softer approach would be more inclusive to the core audience that they're going to try and attract. But again, axe throwing has survived through my raised eyebrow of mixing alcohol and bladed weapons, and I'm sure that uh no one's ever been hurt by an arrow in the eye.

SPEAKER_01 45:32

Well, nobody's ever lived to tell it if they have anyway. But uh, but look, I mean, I haven't obviously played archery time. Uh they're they're uh some of the gameplay looks interesting, at least based on their website. Uh, but I did get a chance to play BlazerTron's Crazy Arrows at Iap Expo in Orlando. And I'll tell you what, I want a real arrow. I don't want to, I don't want a soft-tipped arrow or anything else. Just like when I'm playing darts, I want to play with steel-tipped darts, not plastic tipped darts. I hate that. Um, it's a much better experience. Um, and so I want a real arrow and it was a blast. I loved crazy arrows, I thought it was a lot of fun. Um, and so I imagine that if I can shoot a bow and arrow at a big screen like this in our at archery time, then I would have just as much fun. Uh, so I think it does depend. I think your your point is right about the facility and the thality and probably the lack of or mix of F and B that uh exists here. It's not clear to me that they have uh you know really anything more than a bunch of bays for uh for shooting archery.

SPEAKER_03 46:38

It it needs to be packaged correctly. Uh you know, I I have to accept that no matter how much I was concerned by the liability and waivers that you had to sign for axe throwing and ninja star throwing and knife throwing, they proved popular, those real weighted blended weapons against the wooden uh target, either supported by uh projection mapping or just done dry, um talk to a visceral aspect of the entertainment market. And the same goes for here with uh the archery system. I think you're not going to be able to get away with it. There are examples of non-uh-pointed uh arrow systems out in the market that um you know are used more sportinement lightweights rather than full entertainment base. But again, I wanted to bring this to our audience's attention as an interesting uh opportunity out there. Yeah, uh the axe throwing can get together with uh the blade throwing, then we need real guns, and then everybody's happy. Shuffley um hit me up and gave me some better pictures of their uh grand a chuffel uh yeah in the Netherlands. It looks beautiful. Um, we've got an invite uh to go up there when we're in the neck of the woods to uh to see what they've done. They are really looking at this as their you know entry with the partners into the electric shuffle bullywick. They are you know really trying to create a what I would say high-quality VIP entertainment environment. And you know, what can I say more than what we've already said? Nice themality. We we need to see what the uh return on investment is like.

SPEAKER_01 48:26

Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, it looks like they took basically uh, you know, they they took lessons from Flight Club and from Electric Shuffle. I feel like we are looking at a shuffleboard version of Flight Club as far as the aesthetics inside the, you know, so they kind of like flip-flopped. Um so it'd be interesting to see it. I think what they've done with Grand Shuffle looks really nice, well-appointed, and uh you know, we'll see how well they uh they work the operations.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

We need to get out there. Give us a ticket and we'll get out there. How about that, girl? Anyway, we're getting closer and closer by the second to uh the great exhibition in Las Vegas. Um, amusement Expo will be upon us soon. Uh on the 16th, I'm doing a session that is kind of appetite of what we've been talking about here and what we've been writing about recently, which is how amusement fits into the social entertainment component going forward. Can it survive? Will it be superseded? And also what are the key trends that we're seeing there? Um we will go into more detail about uh all of this closer to the time. We're also uh pushing very heavily the uh amusement world expo, sorry, the uh augmented world expo that is going to be touching on the XR explosion, and there have been some developments recently in the XR scene that uh have direct impacts on location-based entertainment that will hopefully be reflected. We've got the first of our key LBE exhibitors, and I hope after AWE to go into more detail about that. Anyway, you can hunt us down via our QR code as always. If I've got something wrong, there are some stingers out there, up to date, there is some entertainment social arenas out there, uh, and also if you have direct questions, our email is all available for you guys.

SPEAKER_01 50:27

Perfect. All right. Well, that was another great sound off. And tune in next week for sound off number one fourteen. See you then.