Of course, by now your familiar with the Las Vegas Sphere, the spherical 20,000 seater multi-media venue that has played host to immersive concert and movie events from The Eagles, Kenny Chesney, Backstreet Boys, Darren Aronofsky and – most famously – U2’s 40-gig launch residency from 29 September 2023 to 2 March 2024 netting them an estimated $1.8 million per show.
And by all accounts it was worth every penny, delivering the city of blinding lights EVEN MORE blinding lights and setting a new benchmark for what’s possible in front of a live audience.
Such tech doesn’t come cheap however, and after U2’s successful launch of the format it’s only natural that the venue’s owners and the technology’s creators would be seeking to recoup some of their $2.3 billion investment in making their dream a reality.
Indeed, given the frequency that the venue is in use, and the relatively small number of big stars willing and able to invest in a show that uses it, estimates suggest that the owners have so far lost a further $500 million since putting their money where their mouth was.
But is owners, Sphere Entertainment and the Madison Square Garden group, have a growth plan in place. And that’s to ape the tech they pioneered with The Sphere in as many more places as possible.
Could we now be on the brink of a whole new wave of mini-Spheres all across the globe, offering bands and gig attendees the same experience and all re-inventing the live music experience wherever they land?
What goes around comes around…
The secret of the sphere is, of course, its vast LED screen. Lining the inside of the structure, it allows creators to place the audience in any environment with a state-of-the-art sound system then able to place a sound anywhere within that 3D space.
Add on a second huge outer screen – teasing the content inside and giving the venue an almighty presence on the Las Vegas strip – and you’ve got a structure and entertainment enterprise that’s hugely impressive but also: a) insanely expensive to build, b) insanely expensive to run, c) as ecologically sound as nuking an oilfield and d) highly unlikely to get past the planning permission phase should you seek to place one anywhere other than a desert.
The special magic of the Sphere’s global rollout therefore is to, rather than amp up the experience, to make it equally as powerful, but much more manageable, with a Mini Sphere concept reducing the venue’s capacity from 20,000 down to a less problematic 5,000.
Sphere Entertainment’s chairman and CEO James Dolan outlined the plan during their latest earnings call. Sphere is already in the architectural design phase for "mini-Spheres" and is appraising a number of “mid-sized cities as potential locations”.
It’s hoped that by reining in the building and running costs that more niche performers and users can take advantage of the spaces with more targeted audiences coming forward to fill a reduced-capacity venue and still make everyone some money.
Meanwhile, work is continuing with Abu Dhabi’s Sphere, a new un-hindered full-scale build, set to “echo the scale of the 20,000-capacity Sphere in Las Vegas”.
London refuses to play ball
And London had been on the cards for a full-scale Sphere, becoming a fixture of the Olympic Park near Stratford and handy for the Westfield shopping centre until Mayor Sadiq Khan stepped in to nix the idea.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said in 2023: “London is open to investment from around the world and Sadiq wants to see more world-class, ambitious, innovative entertainment venues in our city.”
“But as part of looking at the planning application for the MSG Sphere, the Mayor has seen independent evidence that shows the current proposals would result in an unacceptable negative impact on local residents.”
Hmm… We have to say that given the build and ongoing 'visible from space' impact of a Sphere’s arrival, perhaps London’s ‘Not In My Backyard’ NIMBYs may have had a point.
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