• The Hollywood Reporter, Thursday, November 30, 2006 11:45 AM

The National Football League has had discussions with National Amusements Inc. and other movie chains about screening live sports in digitally equipped theaters, according to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

He tells the Reuters Media Summit of talks with National Amusements president Shari Redstone, who screened high-definition broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games two years ago at her Showcase Cinemas in several New England cities. The cinemas brought in vendors to sell hot dogs, peanuts, beer and souvenirs and encouraged fans to loosen up as they would in the ball park.

National Amusements is controlled by Redstone's father Sumner, who also controls Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. Goodell says the NFL is interested in continuing the discussions as long as broadcasters' rights to air the games were protected. "We think ... that type of marketing could be very successful if we could balance the broadcast," Goodell says, adding that Redstone is in an interesting position because she works for a company that also controls a broadcast network.

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