The Arlington Theater has been booked with a red card and forced to suspend the showing of Sunday’s World Cup final.
The historic theater in downtown Santa Barbara cannot show the championship match between Spain and the Netherlands because of a licensing issue with soccer’s governing body.
FIFA, which runs the World Cup tournament, on Wednesday notified Metropolitan Theatres, the corporation that operates the Arlington, that it needed a license to broadcast the 11:30 a.m. game on the movie screen.
“We were notified by FIFA yesterday that we cannot show the finals without a license because of our use of commercial equipment to exhibit the match,” David Corwin, president of Metropolitan Theatres, told Presidiosports.com in an email. “Unfortunately, we were not able to purchase a license at this late date. We are certainly disappointed that we are unable to provide the broadcast, but we understand and respect FIFA’s rights.”
Karen Killingsworth, manager of the Arlington Theater, said the difference between showing the game at a theater and at a local bar or restaurant was the bar uses televisions just like you watch at home. The theater, however, utiliizes more sophisticated equipment to transmit the game on a silver screen and get movie-quality sound. Apparently, the use of that equipment constituted a copyright infringement.
The free showings of World Cup games at the theater was a hit with the community. It was especially appealing to families and those under 21 who couldn’t get into a bar. The theater was nearly filled to capacity for the second-round match between the U.S. and Ghana, and the Mexico-Argentina match also drew a big crowd.
So the FIFA needs to get with the times…..so the difference is TV vs silver screen and “movie-quality” sound? Is the FIFA serious….denying families seeing it in a “free” “clean” environment of the Arlington vs a bar where they can't take their kids to watch it on just a bigger TV screen? Does FIFA know that many people these days, but not the general populous, have “home theatres” with silver screen, DPL projection onto same, theatre-quality “surround sound” and are probably watching the match with family and friends in their home with a miniature version of the Arlington while the Arlingtonwho can serve the masses can't show it and have many people who would love to see the match on the big screen. That really is a shame, like the FIFA couldn't give them “temporary” approval as there is no time now for the Arlington to get same license before the game. Bureaucracy and red tape suck big time on this occasion….thanks FIFA…as if you NEED the money this minute.
So the FIFA needs to get with the times…..so the difference is TV vs silver screen and “movie-quality” sound? Is the FIFA serious….denying families seeing it in a “free” “clean” environment of the Arlington vs a bar where they can't take their kids to watch it on just a bigger TV screen? Does FIFA know that many people these days, but not the general populous, have “home theatres” with silver screen, DPL projection onto same, theatre-quality “surround sound” and are probably watching the match with family and friends in their home with a miniature version of the Arlington while the Arlingtonwho can serve the masses can't show it and have many people who would love to see the match on the big screen. That really is a shame, like the FIFA couldn't give them “temporary” approval as there is no time now for the Arlington to get same license before the game. Bureaucracy and red tape suck big time on this occasion….thanks FIFA…as if you NEED the money this minute.