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In hindsight, NATO was an unnecessarily confusing acronym for a trade organization representing movie theater owners. For 60 years, the National Association of Theatre Owners has promoted interests of movie theaters, from the biggest chains to the one-screen mom and pop shops. Theyve also regularly gotten mail and phone calls intended for the other NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But the theater owners organization is looking to the future, with a new name and a refocused mission. The group will now be known as Cinema United, president and CEO Michael OLeary told The Associated Press Tuesday. It can be a little complicated having the same name as a multinational military alliance, OLeary said. We felt that it was time to look at our name and do a rebrand. They wanted the new name to reflect the passion and energy of the people that run theaters, OLeary said, and to put the focus back on the exhibitors and movie theaters. Cinema United represents more than 32,000 movie screens in the U.S. and more than 30,000 screens in 88 countries. Their job, OLeary explained, is to promote and support theatrical exhibition. Moviegoing, the new tagline reads, is their mission. Weve had a challenging four or five years. But with each passing day, we put those challenges in the rearview mirror a little bit more. Our focus right now is on the future, OLeary said. I think that we stand on the precipice of the next great era of cinema. An Oscars rallying cry for moviegoing Just a few weeks ago, Anora filmmaker Sean Baker made his own case for theaters on the national stage. In accepting his best director Oscar, he used his time at the podium to make a battle cry for the theatrical experience for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screen and for studios to keep releasing them there. People were ecstatic about it, OLeary said. He has earned the unyielding allegiance of theater owners all around the world for his strong support over the years, and certainly at the Oscars. Movie theaters big and small were hit hard by the pandemic many closed and never re-opened. Last year, they also faced a depleted release calendar due to the Hollywood strikes. Its all resulted in a depleted domestic box office that has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, the industry finished just over $8.7 billion, down 3.3% from 2023 and 23.5% from 2019. A fuller release schedule is expected this year, but currently the box-office total is down about 5% from where the industry was last year at this time. Its really important that we not put too much emphasis on a single year like 2025. We need to constantly be building and growing and moving forward, OLeary said. Despite challenges, it remains an all-ages and affordable entertainment pasttime. A recent study from the National Research Group said 76% of the American population ages 12 to 74 attended at least one movie in 2024. Highlighting movie theater upgrades And though theater closures often make headlines, like the E Street Cinema in Washington D.C., where Cinema United is headquartered, theres also been a spate of investment and refurbishment in theaters around the country, some spearheaded by famous filmmakers and actors. Jason Reitman along with more than 30 directors including Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and Bradley Cooper last February acquired Westwoods Village Theater in Los Angeles, which dates back to 1931. Patrick Wilson also purchased and helped restore an historic theater in New Canaan, CT, joining big screen disciples like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino who have all invested in movie theaters. Last fall, the eight biggest theater chains in the U.S. and Canada announced that they planned to invest more than $2.2 billion to modernize 21,000 movie theater screens over the next three years. This includes anything from projectors, lighting and sound to features in the concessions area. But upgrades in theaters are nothing new, OLeary said, theyre just helping to draw attention to it. The entire membership reinvests in their theaters on a regular basis, OLeary said. Part of the reason we made that announcement was because I dont think its obvious to people that theater owners are constantly in the process of reinventing themselves and reinvesting. Gearing up for 2025’s summer movie season The announcement comes just over a week before some 6,000 movie theater employees from around the world convene in Las Vegas for the annual CinemaCon conference, which Cinema United hosts. All the major Hollywood studios, including The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures and even Amazon/MGM will be making big, starry presentations on the main stage at Caesars Palace where executives and stars will show off new footage and trailers to make the case that they have the goods to get audiences in the theaters. Showcasing that many theaters are small businesses NATO was coined in 1965, a merger of the nations largest movie theater trade organizations: The Theater Owners of America, itself a product of a merger dating back to 1948, and the Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors, which goes back to the 1920s. Those at Cinema United like to say that “were not a Hollywood industry. Were a Main Street industry. At the end of the day, the vast majority of our members are small businesses, so they feel the same pushes and pulls that other small businesses feel throughout the United States and around the world, OLeary said. The headquarters of our biggest members are not in Los Angeles or New York. Theyre in Knoxville, Dallas and Kansas.” Lindsey Bahr, AP film writer
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E-Commerce
The pothole outside Timothy Taylor’s home was so deep, he could hear the clunk of cars hitting it from inside his house. The Portland, Oregon, resident could sympathize with those drivers: He knew to avoid his own neighborhood pothole, but another one damaged his car’s suspension to the tune of $1,000. Hearing that awful sound of your car bottoming out its horrible, he said. Oregon transportation officials say that without more funding, residents like Taylor could see further declines in the quality of roads, highways and bridges starting this year. But revenues from gas taxes paid by drivers at the pump are projected to decrease as more people adopt electric and fuel-efficient cars, forcing officials to look for new ways to fund transportation infrastructure. States with aggressive climate goals like Oregon face a conundrum: EVs can help reduce emissions in the transportation sector, the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, but they also mean less gas tax revenue in government coffers. We now find ourselves right now in a position where we want to address fuel use and drive down reliance on gases and internal combustion engines. But we need the funds to operate our roads that EVs need to use as well, said Carra Sahler, director of the Green Energy Institute at Lewis & Clark Law School. Gas tax revenue is set to fall Motor fuel taxes are the largest source of transportation revenue for states, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers most recent report on state expenditures. But the money they bring in has fallen: Gas taxes raised 41% of transportation revenue in fiscal year 2016, compared with roughly 36% in fiscal year 2024, the group found. In California, where zero-emission vehicles accounted for about a quarter of car sales last year, legislative analysts predict gas tax collections will decrease by $5 billion or 64% by 2035, in a scenario where the state successfully meets its climate goals. California and Oregon are among the multiple states that will require all new passenger cars sold to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. The downward revenue trend is already playing out in Pennsylvania, where gas tax revenues dropped an estimated $250 million last year compared with 2019, according to the states independent fiscal office. Inflation has also driven up the cost of transportation materials, exacerbating budget concerns. What is going on in Oregon? The Oregon Department of Transportation citing inflation, projections of declining gas tax revenues and certain spending limitations has estimated a shortfall topping $350 million for the next budget cycle. That could mean cuts to winter snow plowing and the striping and paving of roads, as well as layoffs of as many as 1,000 transportation employees. Republican lawmakers say the gas tax revenue issue has been compounded by the department mismanaging its money. An audit released in January found the department overestimated its revenue for the current budget cycle by over $1 billion and failed to properly track certain funds. It really is about making sure that the existing dollars that are being spent by the department are being spent efficiently and effectively, said state Sen. Bruce Starr, GOP co-vice chair of the joint transportation committee. How states are boosting transportation funding To make up for lost revenue, 34 states have raised their gas tax since 2013, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. California has the highest gas tax at over 69 cents a gallon when including other taxes and fees, while Alaska has the lowest at 9 cents a gallon, according to figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In Oregon which in 1919 became the first state to implement a gas tax it is 40 cents a gallon. The federal gas tax of 18 cents a gallon, which isnt adjusted for inflation, hasnt been raised in over three decades. In Oregon, where there is no sales tax and tolling has met fierce opposition, lawmakers are debating next steps. Other states have taken such steps as indexing their gas tax to inflation, raising registration fees for EVs and taxing EV charging stations. To bolster transportation dollars, some have reorganized their budgets. In Michigan, where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was first elected using the slogan Fix the Damn Roads, some revenues from marijuana taxes and personal income taxes now go toward transportation. In Connecticut, the sales tax now brings in more money for its special transportation fund than gas tax revenues, a 2024 fiscal report shows. Another concept that could provide a long-term solution is what are often known as a road user charge. Under such a system, drivers pay a fee based on the distance they travel. In 2023, Hawaii established a road usage charge program for EV drivers that will phase in starting this July. In 2028, all EV drivers will be automatically enrolled, with odometers read at annual vehicle inspections. Three other states Oregon, Utah and Virginia have voluntary road usage fee programs. Drivers can opt to use GPS tools to track and report their mileage. Claire Rush, Associated Press The name of the National Association of State Budget Officers has been corrected to include the word State.
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E-Commerce
Calling the groups in charge of professional tennis a cartel, the players’ association co-founded by Novak Djokovic filed an antitrust lawsuit against the women’s and men’s tours, the International Tennis Federation and the sport’s integrity agency on Tuesday in federal court in New York. The suit by the Professional Tennis Players’ Association says the organizations that run the sport hold complete control over the players pay and working conditions and their setup constitutes textbook violations of state and federal law that immunize professional tennis from ordinary market forces and deny professional tennis players and other industry participants their right to fair competition. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial and wants players to gain access to more earnings, arguing that the governing bodies that oversee the four Grand Slam tournaments Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open and other professional events cap the prize money tournaments award and limit players ability to earn money off the court. The WTA Tour and ATP Tour issued separate statements Tuesday saying they would vigorously defend themselves. The WTA said it has committed to a $400 million increase in player compensation in recent years and labeled the PTPA action a baseless legal case that is regrettable and misguided. The ATP touted a major increase in player compensation that created a jump of $70 million in the past five years, and called the PTPA’s case entirely without merit. The PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress, the ATP’s statement said. Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising. The ITF and the International Tennis Integrity Agency which investigates and adjudicates doping and corruption cases declined to comment. The PTPA was founded by 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil in August 2020, aiming to offer representation for players who are independent contractors in a largely individual sport. One of the goals made clear along the way was to become a sort of full-fledged union that negotiates collective bargaining agreements like those that exist in team sports. For the past few years, the PTPA, an organization Ive worked on tirelessly since its inception, has made countless efforts to collaborate with the tours in hopes of achieving positive change for players. Despite these efforts and attempts to engage in constructive dialogue, we were met with resistance and a lack of meaningful action. It is because of this ongoing disregard for players that we were left with no alternative but to take action of our own, Pospisil posted on social media. For too long, players have been forced to accept a broken system that ignores our well-being, undervalues our contributions, and leaves us without real representation. Djokovic is not one of the players listed as a plaintiff. His support for this is already explicit. Its redundant since PTPA (is) named as plaintiff, and he is on (the executive committee), PTPA spokesman David Cooper wrote in an email. He wanted to allow others to step up since this is not just Novaks (organization). The PTPA said it met with more than 250 players women and men, and a majority of the top 20 in the WTA and ATP rankings before going to court. Tennis is broken, PTPA executive director Ahmad Nassar said in a news release. Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety. We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isnt about disrupting tennis its about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come. Howard Fendrich, AP tennis writer
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