It's odd, because this model would likely work outside of the US.

I sat down with the head of marketing of a large cinema chain for something completely unrelated (bumped into the guy at an event) and they have corporate plans where tickets are significantly discounted (i.e. a normal ticket is €12,95 and corporates pay €3-5 if they buy 100s in bulk).

I guess the incentive is there, because they mostly make their profits from food / candy / nachos etc that are sold to people visiting the movie theatre.