Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesSports & Entertainment

Will Drive-In Events Endure in a Post-COVID World?

The fans remember the highlights but the franchises remember the technology, data, and inventions that powered their season. Host Tyler Kern sits down with the innovators, leaders and founders that are taking sports into the future.   This summer, Encore Live held Drive-In Nights concerts around that nation. It was a natural pivot for the…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Sports & Entertainment teams put it to work with Events & Onsite Capture.

Share
Will Drive-In Events Endure in a Post-COVID World?

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Sports & Entertainment coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Start free

The fans remember the highlights but the franchises remember the technology, data, and inventions that powered their season. Host Tyler Kern sits down with the innovators, leaders and founders that are taking sports into the future.

This summer, Encore Live held Drive-In Nights concerts around that nation. It was a natural pivot for the live event company during a time that live events couldn’t be held. The events quickly spread to over 300 venues across six time zones, featuring world-class artists like Metallica, Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton.

This week on Salary Capped, host Tyler Kern sits down with Encore Live Founder and CEO Walter Kinzie to discuss how what was once a pivot is now becoming a permanent shift in their business plan. Kinzie explained that their events have been so successful because, for most of the population, planning an hours-long trip to a major stadium to see an concert or sporting event is a big enough obstacle to deter them from wanting to make such a big time commitment.

But driving to a local venue to watch a live stream of the event is easy enough. Last summer’s most popular event was their presentation of Metallica, which gathered over 200,000 fans to watch the live stream of their concert. The average price of attendance was $17 per person versus over $200 a ticket at a traditional concert venue.

This pivot has turned into a revelation for the company that culminated in presenting the recent UFC 257 fights live. The summer concerts proved to be a perfect preparation for the UFC fights, which resulted in Encore Live being the only company broadcasting the fights live during the evening without any delays due to technical difficulties.

Due to the resounding success of their UFC presentation, Kinzie is planning a future where over a million UFC fans will be able to attend a fight through their venue partners.

Follow Along for a New Episode Every Monday!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment starts with a company putting its venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Rights holders and partners back the operators they know, and coverage is how they get to know yours.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Sports & Entertainment, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Sports & Entertainment: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Sports & Entertainment buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Sports & Entertainment expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams into the articles, video, and social content Sports & Entertainment buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0, no credit card, nothing that expires

More Sports & Entertainment Insights

NHL still expects more clarity on Texas expansion by December

NHL still expects more clarity on Texas expansion by December

The NHL still expects to know more by December, commissioner Gary Bettman said. He said there is no rigid timetable or “magic date” for a decision.

  • 01Cost framing varies by source: Front Office Sports put Texas expansion at about $3.5B including a new arena, while Puck Prose’s CNBC recap cited a $2B-range expansion fee.
  • 02Bettman said expansion would require three-quarters of the Board of Governors to be comfortable with the deal, and he emphasized there’s still “a lot of work to do” and no “magic date” for a decision (Front Office Sports; Bleacher Report).

Sep 23, 2026

Report: Apple TV planned 14 iPhone 18 Pros at Dodger Stadium

Sports Video Group’s September 18 report outlined 14 iPhone 18 Pro specialty cameras at Dodger Stadium, including eight planned private-5G feeds. The announcement is not a post-event performance assessment.

  • 01Sports Video Group said Apple went from four iPhone 17 Pro cameras at Fenway Park in 2025 to a plan for 14 iPhone 18 Pro units at Dodger Stadium in 2026, alongside operational needs like remote control, monitoring, shading and reliable ingest.
  • 02Sports Video Group said Apple planned iPhone placements in spots traditional rigs often avoid and that eight feeds would run over a dedicated T-Mobile Private 5G Network, describing the game as a demonstration of private 5G for in-venue live contribution.

Sep 21, 2026

67 Red Wings games will air on Detroit SportsNet, streaming runs through MLB App

67 Red Wings games will air on Detroit SportsNet, streaming runs through MLB App

Detroit SportsNet will carry 67 Detroit Red Wings regular-season games in 2026-27. In-market streaming runs through a Detroit SportsNet tab inside the MLB App. Some games are still reserved for national telecasts.

  • 01Source language diverges on availability: MLB.com calls in-market streaming “blackout-free,” while the Red Wings’ NHL.com FAQ warns access is “subject to National Exclusivities,” a contract detail that matters for support and subscriber messaging.
  • 02Detroit SportsNet says in-market fans can subscribe directly and stream locally televised Red Wings games in the MLB App, while the Red Wings’ NHL.com page notes availability is subject to national exclusivities and terms may apply.

Sep 21, 2026

Explore More Sports & Entertainment Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Sports & Entertainment.

Browse Sports & Entertainment Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Sports & Entertainment and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512