Recently, news of cost overruns at the Sphere in Las Vegas has attracted widespread attention. The cost of building the Sphere in Las Vegas far exceeded initial expectations. The initial estimate of the construction cost was $1.2 billion, but the actual cost was as high as $2.3 billion. This huge financial pressure forced Sphere Entertainment to reevaluate its business strategy. Now, as Sphere Entertainment plans to expand its business to other cities, the company is also considering reducing the size of the venue to reduce construction and operating costs.
Mini Sphere Venues are Significantly Smaller in Size
In an investment conference call, Sphere Entertainment Executive Chairman and CEO James Dolan said that in order to cope with the high construction costs, the company is currently designing a mini Sphere venue with a capacity of about 5,000 people. In contrast, the Sphere in Las Vegas has a seating capacity of 17,600, and if the standing area is included, the capacity can be close to 20,000 people, which is significantly smaller in size.
The smaller size of the Mini Sphere venue requires less land area (including parking), which not only greatly reduces construction costs, but also may attract more types of artists. The Las Vegas Sphere venue has a 160,000-square-foot LED screen inside, which provides artists with a stage to display customized video content. However, such a large-scale screen and customized content require artists to invest a lot of money, which may be unaffordable for some artists with limited budgets. Currently, the venue has hosted performances by well-known bands such as Eagles, Phish and U2, which have also invited Industrial Light and Magic special effects studio to customize unique visual effects for them. However, not all bands have such a high budget.
Mini Venues Provide Audiences with More Options
In contrast, although the mini venue is smaller in scale, it will still be equipped with huge surround screens, striving to provide audiences with an immersive experience similar to that of the main venue. Despite its reduced size, the Mini Sphere will still be equipped with huge surround screens and provide an immersive experience similar to that of the original venue. U2 played 40 shows at the Sphere in Las Vegas, recorded one of the shows, and produced an immersive concert film. This kind of film costs much less to watch than watching the band perform live, and similar concert films may be screened in mini Sphere venues in the future, which not only provides more choices for audiences, but also provides more opportunities for artists and venues to recoup performance costs, and can even serve as an alternative to live performances.
Sphere Entertainment is considering mini venues as one of the alternatives to live performances. For example, they can screen concert films previously recorded in the main venue in the mini venue, providing audiences with more choices while creating more opportunities for artists and venues to recoup costs. This approach not only helps ease the financial pressure on artists, but also allows audiences to enjoy high-quality performance experiences at a lower cost, which is a new idea for expanding the entertainment industry.
Although the specific construction location and schedule of the mini venue have not yet been announced, Sphere Entertainment is clearly looking for opportunities to expand its business around the world. Last October, the company announced plans to build a second full-size Sphere venue in Abu Dhabi to further consolidate its position in the global entertainment market. As architectural design advances, Sphere Entertainment is expected to occupy an even more important position in the future entertainment market.
