The Sphere in Las Vegas is currently the only entertainment venue of its kind in the world. That may soon change!
Madison Square Garden Entertainment and CEO James Dolan are looking to build similar Spherical structures in other cities across the world. London will not be one of them.
MSG and Sphere officially withdrew its proposal to build a 23,000-capacity arena in Stratford earlier this week. It became something of a “political football” so they bailed.
The failed effort cost the company millions of dollars and countless hours of planning. All of their work toward building the London Sphere is thrown out of the window.
But all hope is not lost to go global! Sphere Entertainment wants to expand and issued a passive aggressive statement about its future plans.
We are committed to continuing to work collaboratively with forward-thinking cities around the world who are serious about bringing this next-generation entertainment experience to their communities.
— Sphere Entertainment spokesperson
Where might that be? We shall see…
Dolan reportedly met with investors in two major international cities over the last two years. The hope is to start construction on a new Sphere in Hanam, South Korea in 2025. It would be a large part of a K-Pop-inspired amusement park called ‘K-Star World.’
Most recently, in December, Dolan reportedly met with investors in Abu Dhabi. He and MSG want to build another Sphere in the United Arab Emirates capital. Considering the amount of flashy architecture and bright lights that already exist in Abu Dhabi, a giant spherical LED screen would fit right in. Much like Las Vegas!
Neither MSGE nor Sphere Entertainment have commented on the rumored target locations. They are keeping this one more close to the chest after getting burned by London.
Should it get to a point where conversations become actual, tangible blueprints and purchases, Sphere and its team will likely be more willing to discuss future plans. In the meantime, all we can do is speculate based off of reporting and logic.
Where would a new Sphere make sense?