The Sphere Is Here: The Biggest New Thing In Las Vegas Is Huge

06.08.2023 - 11:29 / forbes.com

It’s a couple of pandemic years behind schedule, but on July 5th The Sphere was lit up for the first time, changing the Las Vegas skyline forever. But that was just a tease, and next month, on September 29, The Sphere will be opened in its full glory by U2 – with the band’s first live performance anywhere in the world in nearly four years.

This is really big, literally, figuratively and as a tourism attraction.

After 30 odd years of covering the development of Las Vegas, I thought I’d seen it all, and the one thing I’ve learned is that there is always something newer, bigger, brasher, more imaginative - and more bizarre - just around the corner. 2023 is an especially epic year here, and just between now and the end of the year - always punctuated by the nation’s largest New Year’s Eve fireworks display - there is going to be the new F1 race, almost certainly the most attended event in the city’s history (read more here), and the debut of a rare all-new from the ground up mega casino resort, the Fontainebleau. But huge casinos and huge sporting events are nothing new in Sin City, while there has never been anything like The Sphere at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas - or anyplace else on earth.

Five years and $2+ billion in the making, this new venue is the most expensive entertainment undertaking in the city’s history - substantially more than the still new state of the art Allegiant Stadium, host of the 2024 Super Bowl. In a city that loves superlatives, it is the largest spherical structure in the world (in Vegas contrast, the Luxor casino hotel is “just” the third tallest pyramid on the planet; while the observation deck at the Eiffel Tower at Paris’s casino resort sits an impressive 46 stories high, it’s only half the size of the real thing in real Paris; the High Roller Observation Wheel is the tallest in North America at 550 feet but still a far second to Dubai’s 820 foot monster).

Developed by the Madison Square Garden Company, it was originally called the MSG Sphere, but it is partnered with the adjacent Venetian - fittingly the city’s largest resort, with more than 7000 rooms (all of the suites!) - on land the casino owned.

The Sphere is 516 feet wide, 366 feet tall and will seat 17,600 people, with floor standing room bringing the total up to 20,000. With an unbelievably sophisticated sound system, it is primarily a big-time concert venue, and immediately takes its place among the most desirable spots to see live music in the world. But The Sphere also plans to host boxing, mixed martial arts, wrestling and E-sports competitions on its stage.

Inside and out, the skin of the Sphere is giant LED screen, or as they call it, a “Vivid Canvas.” For fans inside, this presents itself as an immersive