The global cinema industry has grappled with persistent headwinds in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, and Jamaica’s Palace Amusement Company Limited is no exception. Facing plummeting in-person attendance, widespread financial pressure, and the permanent loss of a key revenue stream after 2024 hurricane damage closed its Montego Bay multiplex, the regional cinema chain has unveiled a bold new diversification strategy: repurposing its empty theater space to host live sports and premium alternative content, unlocking untapped revenue streams through a new cross-regional partnership.
Starting in May 2026, Palace cinemas across Jamaica will begin airing live sporting events and curated lifestyle programming for audiences, under the partnership with Trend Media and Caribbean Premiere Sports Limited (CPSL) — the parent company of popular regional sports networks Rush Sports and Rush Prime TV. The initiative marks a core pillar of Palace’s long-term plan to expand beyond traditional film screenings and maximize usage of its existing theater infrastructure, rather than investing heavily in costly new assets.
Speaking ahead of the official launch event held at Kingston’s Carib 5 cinema on Thursday, Palace Amusement Marketing Director and Manager Melanie Graham framed the partnership as a critical step toward drawing entirely new audience segments that do not regularly visit cinemas for traditional movie screenings. “We are happy about this partnership as it delivers on our plan to introduce alternative content and attract new audiences — people who might not otherwise visit the cinema,” Graham told the Jamaica Observer. “We expect it to generate additional revenue. It’s early to quantify the impact, but sports is a proven crowd-puller and having games on the big screen tends to be a whole different experience.”
Graham added that most live sports events will be scheduled during the cinema chain’s regular downtime, helping cushion ongoing financial strain by tapping into the large regional audience of sports fans who have not traditionally engaged with Palace’s offerings. “This is new for us, but it comes as a relatively low-cost opportunity that we can tap into immediately. In the meantime, we continue to assess other strategies that will bring more patrons to the cinema, including free ticket promotions and birthday specials,” she noted.
For CPSL, the cinema collaboration grew out of a successful test event held last year, when the network hosted a live screening of the Jamaica-Trinidad World Cup qualifying match in a Jamaican cinema. Even coming just weeks after Hurricane Melissa impacted the region, the event drew a far larger crowd than organizers expected, confirming demand for big-screen sports viewings. CPSL General Manager Michael Look Tong explained that while the network’s content already reaches 8,000 regional households via traditional television and digital streaming, the immersive big-screen theater experience offers something that home viewing cannot match. “Our content is already available on TV and digital platforms, but the cinema setting offers a unique, immersive experience,” he told BusinessWeek.
The initial content lineup will feature high-profile events including Formula 1 Grand Prix races and UEFA Champions League football matches, with plans to expand the schedule to include IPL and CPL cricket matches, NFL games, and Diamond League athletics competitions if the launch is successful. Beyond sports, CPSL is also developing premium lifestyle content, with plans to partner with U.S. cable network Hallmark Channel to host red-carpet film premieres and special screenings of new original movies later in 2026. Look Tong confirmed that the cinema initiative is part of a broader regional expansion, with existing partnerships already in place with Olympus Theatres in Barbados and MovieTowne in Trinidad, and potential expansion to Guyana’s MovieTowne locations down the line. Under the terms of the partnership, Trend Media will handle all sales and advertising services for the cinema screenings.
The first live sports event will air at Palace’s largest Carib 5 location in Kingston on May 3, 2026, with plans to roll out the offering to the chain’s other locations, including Portmore’s Sunshine Palace cinema, in the months following the launch. “We have the space, and we definitely have the screen and sound, and so we’re hoping that we can also push the viewing of these games over to our Sunshine Palace cinema in Portmore sometime soon,” said Palace Assistant Managing Director Steven Cooke.
This strategic pivot comes at a make-or-break moment for Palace Amusement. In the six months ending December 31, 2025, the company reported a widened net loss of $115 million, driven largely by hurricane-related disruptions and ongoing post-pandemic declines in attendance. The 2024 hurricane forced the permanent closure of its Montego Bay multiplex, cutting off one of the company’s most consistent revenue sources.
To complement the new sports initiative, Palace is rolling out a suite of additional low-cost diversification measures designed to boost incremental revenue and increase per-patron spending, including upgraded in-seat concession services and new alternative programming such as anime screenings and special community events. The company is also counting on a stronger pipeline of major blockbuster film releases in the second half of 2026 to support its recovery, while continuing to prioritize strict cost control, debt management, and liquidity preservation to stabilize day-to-day operations.
Palace’s strategic shift aligns with a broader global trend across the cinema industry, where operators have increasingly turned to experiential, non-traditional content to drive foot traffic and improve profit margins at a time when traditional movie attendance has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. The new partnership positions the chain to tap into an existing, passionate audience while making more consistent use of its underutilized theater spaces.