LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥 It started as a crude sketch 鈥 a circle with a stick person inside. Seven years later, that drawing has been made real: A $2.3 billion massive spherical venue, standing 366 feet (111 meters) high and lighting up the Las Vegas skyline.
The drawing was initially made by the executive chair of Madison Square Garden and owner of the New York Knicks and Rangers. He and MSG Ventures CEO David Dibble were trying to create a plan to give the entertainment venue industry a facelift in Las Vegas.
Both experimented with different shapes for the structure 鈥 such as a muffin, a box and even a pyramid 鈥 until Dolan drew the circle and stick person on a notebook. At that moment, the Sphere was born.
Now, Dolan鈥檚 vision will come to fruition when residency kicks off the opening of his high-tech, globe-shaped venue Friday night.
鈥淚t really is a new medium,鈥 said Dolan, speaking to the media during a walkthrough Thursday. “When you鈥檙e in the Sphere, you don鈥檛 get told what to look at. The audience decides what they want to focus on.鈥
Inside the 516-foot-wide (157-meter-wide) Sphere, a high-resolution LED screen wraps halfway around the 17,500-seat audience. The venue is equipped with thousands of speakers that will deliver a 鈥渃rystal-clear,鈥 multi-layered experience.
The venue features an array of technology attractions, including five interactive humanoid robots named Aura.
鈥淣ecessity is the mother of invention,鈥 said Dibble, who framed Dolan鈥檚 original drawing after carrying the picture in his backpack. 鈥淓verything from our audio and networking system, visual displays, camera systems stored 鈥 it鈥檚 all required to deliver an effective Sphere experience.鈥
The state-of-the-art venue has become a traffic stopper 鈥 especially at night. It drew immediate attention on the Fourth of July with a digital fireworks display, an eyeball that appeared to scan the horizon with the words 鈥淗ello World.鈥
Along with U2鈥檚 25-show residency, the venue will next week offer a custom production titled 鈥淧ostcard from Earth鈥 by
Tourists and air travelers have also seen the orb light up with the likeness of the Earth or Moon, bouncing basketballs and art designs. The characters from the upcoming animated film 鈥淭rolls Band Together鈥 have appeared on its LED exterior and it trumpeted the release of NSYNC’s new single 鈥淏etter Place,鈥 a song on the movie’s soundtrack.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 cool,鈥 said Glenn NP Nowak, an architecture professor at the nearby University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like words don鈥檛 do it justice.鈥
The Sphere resembles the Spaceship Earth attraction at Walt Disney World鈥檚 Epcot theme park in Florida. Its design also draws comparisons to the Montreal Biosphere museum in Canada and Avicii Arena in Sweden.
It doesn鈥檛 tower over the Strip like the 520-foot (158-meter) that casino giant Caesars Entertainment opened in 2014, or the 1,149-foot (350-meter) tower at the Strat Hotel & Casino that opened in 1996.
However, the Sphere is the most expensive entertainment venue built in Las Vegas, eclipsing the approximately $1.9 billion, 65,000-seat that opened in 2020.
鈥淭here is hype around this,鈥 added Nowak, who toured the structure with his students at various phases while it was being built. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 part of the reason people don鈥檛 necessarily understand what they鈥檝e just seen.鈥
Beyond a structure that Nowak called an 鈥渆ngineering marvel,鈥 he noted its cutting-edge position as an attraction in an emerging Las Vegas “experience economy.鈥
Each year, Las Vegas has lured more than 40 million people into an area known for gambling, nightlife, spas, entertainment shows and fine dining. Most normally arrive by air at Harry Reid International Airport, which handled nearly 53 million passengers in 2022.
鈥淭his was the perfect market,鈥 Dolan said. 鈥淭his marketplace is about growth. They welcome the notion of putting a big, huge spherical light bulb thing in the middle of it. This market loves light, it loves shows, the entertainment. The Sphere is all about those things. The government here was welcoming and encouraging.鈥
The project started as a partnership with casino company Las Vegas Sands, the then-owner of the Venetian and Palazzo resort towers on the Las Vegas Strip. Now the 35-story Venetian and 50-story Palazzo, with more than 7,000 rooms combined, advertise bird’s-eye guest room views of the Sphere.
Dolan said casino owners initially thought the venue would be a 鈥渞egular ol’ arena.鈥
鈥淭he casino owners were concerned about getting boxed out of entertainment, so they had to have their own venue,鈥 he said. 鈥淪omewhere along the line, we told them it’s not going to be a regular arena. They really embraced the concept.鈥
Dolan believes many others will embrace the Sphere, and hopes to expand the concept all over the world. He believes London could be the next landing spot, with the dreams of someday building one in New York.
But for now, Dolan is focused on proving that the Sphere is the real deal.
鈥淚 feel good about what we built,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 feel like it’s going to be a success. The people are going to love it. I’m not as anxious as I used to be.鈥
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