Later this year, Cosm is slated to open one of its first two immersive entertainment venues at Grandscape in The Colony, offering pioneering tech and a massive LED-dome screen to “seamlessly bridge the gap between the virtual and the real.” That includes feeling like you’re actually at a live sports event—and a signing announced Wednesday will give Cosm plenty of fuel for its domes.
The L.A.-based company has signed a “multi-year agreement” with ESPN that will bring live college and professional sports events to Cosm’s forthcoming immersive venues at Grandscape and L.A.’s Hollywood Park—both of which are expected to open in 2024.
Leveraging ESPN’s expansive package of live premium sports programming, Cosm says it will “produce and present marquee events” from the NBA, NHL, U.S. Open Tennis, College Football Regular Season and Playoff, Men’s and Women’s College Basketball, College Baseball and Softball, and select UFC Fight Nights.
“This agreement represents years of collaboration with ESPN as we continuously work to bring fans some of the biggest and best sports events in the world,” Cosm President and CEO Jeb Terry said in a statement. “Now, we get to extend our work into Shared Reality, a new category of entertainment bringing fans closer to the action than ever before, with the same standard of excellence that ESPN stands for.”
“With the addition of sports like tennis, incredible new college content, and a wide breadth of championship coverage, Cosm can now super serve every sports fan, regardless of their favorite sport, team, or league,” Terry added.
Founded in 2020 by Dallas PE firm
Founded in 2020 by Dallas-based Mirasol Capital—led by billionaire RealPage Founder Steven Winn—Cosm will offer “shared reality” experiences from live sports to concerts to experiential art and more. Guests will be plunged into each experience through Cosm’s immersive “8K-plus,” 87-foot diameter LED dome.
Kevin Lopes, ESPN’s VP of sports business development and innovation, said his company “has always had a relentless passion to provide fans with unique, innovative experiences.”
“What we’re doing with Cosm is a prime example of that, and one that marks another exciting step into the world of immersive sports presentations for fans,” Lopes added in a statement.
Cosm says its venues will “merge the energy of the crowd with elevated food and beverage service to make guests feel like they are sitting front row, courtside, or rink-side at live events taking place across the world.”
Cosm signed earlier deals with TNT Sports and NBA
News of the ESPN agreement follows Cosm’s November 2023 announcement of a multi-year broadcast partnership with TNT Sports,
In February 2023, Cosm announced a multi-year partnership with the NBA, which will see Cosm producing and presenting select games from NBA League Pass, the league’s out-of-market live-game streaming service.
R E A D N E X T
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Founded in 2020 by Dallas-based Mirasol Capital, led by billionaire RealPage Founder and CEO Steven Winn, Cosm will offer "shared reality" experiences from live sports to concerts to experiential art and more. Guests will be plunged into each experience through Cosm's proprietary tech on an immersive 87-foot diameter LED dome.
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It may not be a courtside seat. But with live NBA, NHL, and U.S. soccer teams' matchups playing on Cosm's immersive, 87-foot diameter LED domes, it may be the next-best thing. Tip-off of the TNT Sports broadcasts is slated to begin in 2024.
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A new entertainment concept called "Great Big Game Show" is set to open in late November at Grandscape in The Colony, featuring a real-life, interactive game show where the patron is the contestant. It's the second location in the nation for the concept from the creators of The Escape Game. “The Escape Game brings us so much joy because we get to witness our guests having a blast with what we've created. We introduced Great Big Game Show to offer more fun to more guests in a whole new and exciting way,” Jonathan Murrell, co-founder and CMO of The Escape…
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Beat the Streets fosters youth development for student-athletes in underserved communities via mentoring and life guidance taught in quality wrestling programs. BSN President Terry Babilla says the donation is about not just helping young wrestlers win on the mat, but "in life, too."
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Weatherford-based Teton Ridge, an omnichannel brand focused on multiple facets of the American West, calls the agreement "the largest international broadcast rights deal in the history of American Western sports." U.K-based DAZN said it will use its global reach to bring the broadcasts to users worldwide.
