AMC Theatres will broadcast the 2026 Rocket League World Championship finals at 50 of its cinemas across the United States, IGN reported on September 8.
The finals take place on September 20 and will stream live from Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. According to IGN, 20 teams are competing for a $1.2 million prize pool, with $300,000 going to the winner, and the full broadcast is expected to run about eight hours. The event will crown the 15th Rocket League World Champions.
Adult tickets at participating theaters cost $19.49, or $22.18 when booked online, and were on sale at the time of IGN's report.
Viewers of major esports events usually earn in-game drops by watching on Twitch, and AMC has built that into the screenings: moviegoers receive commemorative Rocket League tickets that include codes for the drops they would otherwise earn by watching the stream.
Such a big part of the magic of movie theatres is their ability to bring people together for unforgettable shared experiences, and a live event like the Rocket League World Championship is a great example of that.
Cinema screenings of esports finals are not new. IGN noted that the 2025 League of Legends World Championship finals in Chengdu, China were shown in select theaters across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and that Riot Games did the same for the Valorant Champions Paris finals.
IGN also placed the move alongside AMC's other recent efforts outside major studio releases: the chain founded a film distribution company to help smaller films reach theaters, after small-budget projects such as Obsession and Markiplier's Iron Lung became box-office hits.