Drew Lawson

Are movie theaters dead, or is the big screen irreplaceable?

I bought a 77-inch OLED on a Black Friday sale for less than my family spends on takeout in two months, paired it with a mid-range soundbar, and my living room now looks better than the local multiplex screen that still has a smudge in the corner from 2019. Dune: Part Two hit my streaming service about six weeks after release, and I rewound the sandworm ride four times, which is a feature no theater on earth offers. The studios killed the mystique themselves: when Universal will put a movie on Peacock 17 days after opening ([their window deals](https://variety.com/)), every theatrical release becomes a trailer for the living-room version. Why would I pay a premium to beta-test the film?

Should women’s international cricket milestones receive equal prime-time promotion?

Prime-time slots are not sitting empty waiting for an editor's conscience. They are sold years in advance inside broadcast rights packages worth billions, with contractual guarantees about placement and promotion. A mandate for equal prime-time promotion would have leagues and broadcasters litigating what equal means while rights holders sue over breached contracts. The [viewing growth](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/09/08/study-network-highlight-show-coverage-of-wom) in women's sports is real, and broadcasters are already expanding coverage because audiences are growing, which is how markets should work. Let the next round of rights deals price in the rising demand. Forcing it by rule invites legal chaos for a problem that commercial momentum is already solving.

And the pipeline argument works in both directions. Today's casual participant is tomorrow's volunteer coach and next decade's Olympian parent. Participation funding is elite funding with a longer time horizon.

Sports · Sep 23, 2026 · Should national sports funding reward participation growth as much as medal resu…