It’s been nine months since the eye-catching arena called The Sphere opened off the Las Vegas strip. The world’s largest spherical structure has hosted immersive shows, private corporate events and epic musical performances.
But its foray into sports is just at the outset.
The Sphere is set to host the 2024 NHL Draft Friday and Saturday, with the first round serving as the venue’s first live televised event. The 17,000-seat next-gen entertainment venue will be utilized and activated in ways never seen. Sphere Studios, which works exclusively for parent Sphere Entertainment Co., partnered with the league to create custom visuals that will be displayed inside and across the Exosphere (outside of the Sphere), the world’s largest resolution LED screen. The visuals for the two-day event includes historical stats, former franchise draft picks and team graphics. It will be the first time the Exosphere will feature displays in real time from an event happening inside as Sphere Studios led the design and content creation process.
The draft comes just two days after the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced that it will host UFC 306 at the Sphere on Sept. 14. The Mexican Independence Day event, the latest tie-up between UFC parent company TKO and Saudi Arabia, marks the first sporting event at the state-of-the-art venue. The fight announcement also represents another notch in the longstanding partnership between the UFC and the Madison Square Garden family of companies that’s headed by Sphere owner and operator Jim Dolan.
“Anytime you can transform the customer experience you’re doing something right,” president of venue management at OVG360 Greg O’Dell said in an interview. “[Sphere] is built to be flexible and having ownership like Jim Dolan and MSG, they know what’s required for different types of uses. I think you’re going to see [more] venues trying to accommodate these uses and recognizing that people want nontraditional experiences.”
The Sphere has been slowly trending in this direction since its doors opened in 2023. Two months after multiplatinum rock band U2 christened the venue by playing the first concert there, the Sphere was activated for programming during Formula 1’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in November 2023. Several sponsors like Puma, T-Mobile and Heineken took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their brand in front of millions of fans watching worldwide.
The city’s hottest landmark also was utilized during the first Super Bowl in Sin City this past February thanks to a partnership with the NFL. The $2.3 billion giant orb featured various Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers graphics as well as all 57 Super Bowl runs leading up to the big game. The Exosphere was featured several times during the live broadcast on CBS, which averaged 120 million viewers.
The Sphere, which promoted NBA Summer League last year, opened with plenty of fanfare as music fans were clinging to a new way of experiencing concerts post-pandemic. But nearly one year later, the venue is flexing its capabilities to show that it can provide more than an immersive music experience.
“They’ve always known that they would market different type of venue [events],” Dell said. “As an example, they’ll also do large scale meetings and conventions there. I imagine all types of different unveilings that may not necessarily be marketed or known yet but I’m sure they’ll expand their use of content.”
