00:00 Las Vegas Sphere has officially become a major attraction in Las Vegas.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the most interesting facts about the
00:08 Las Vegas Sphere.
00:10 And it is making a great big promise to change the entertainment world.
00:14 Number 10.
00:15 It's the largest spherical building in the world.
00:18 With a name like Sphere, only one thing comes to mind.
00:21 A really, really big sphere.
00:23 Luckily, the building delivers on that promise.
00:26 Right off the Vegas Strip is the future of entertainment in a way only science fiction
00:31 could predict.
00:32 Holding 18,600 seats and 875 square feet of space, this is currently the largest spherical
00:40 building in the world.
00:41 It took the mantle from Stockholm's Avicii Arena, which held the record since 1989.
00:46 Naturally, constructing such a large building requires some serious effort.
00:51 The Sphere is 366 feet tall and 516 feet wide.
00:57 And that's where the fourth largest crane in the world came into play.
01:00 Transported from Belgium, the DMAG crane stands 580 feet tall and took 18 days to build.
01:07 The crane is nearly 600 feet tall, which is about 30 feet taller than the high roller.
01:12 Number 9.
01:13 Construction was delayed for COVID.
01:15 The Sphere officially opened on September 29, 2023.
01:18 Were you expecting to see the Sphere when you came all the way from New Zealand?
01:22 No, no.
01:23 It was a shock for us.
01:24 It is impressive to locals and visitors alike.
01:27 But that was not the original plan.
01:29 Sphere was supposed to open its doors two years earlier in 2021, but was delayed owing
01:34 to the COVID pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues.
01:37 Despite construction being deemed essential during the pandemic, it was delayed due to
01:41 supply chain issues.
01:42 And it came at the worst possible time as well.
01:45 The aforementioned crane arrived in February 2020, and by March it was in the midst of
01:50 building the widest point of the Sphere.
01:53 MSG Company, the contractor behind the Sphere, announced on March 31 that construction would
01:58 be delayed.
01:59 After being paused, construction eventually resumed.
02:01 In 2021, the heaviest lift was complete.
02:04 The following August, they revealed that the Sphere's opening would be held back by two
02:08 years.
02:10 Number 8.
02:11 It debuted with YouTube.
02:12 A big building needed to make a splash and prove that it was the entertainment venue
02:17 of the world.
02:18 Enter the legendary U2, who inaugurated the Vegas landmark with their concert residency
02:24 Ok Tong Baby live at the Sphere.
02:26 Their creative team actually was against it.
02:30 But they went to see it and they came away saying basically, "We have to do this."
02:34 As the name suggests, the concert sees the band performing the entirety of Ok Tong Baby
02:39 alongside their big hits like With or Without You and Beautiful Day.
02:44 Our challenge is not so much making it sound good, it's like how far do we go into the
02:48 immersive sound without it starting to take away from what we are effectively, which is
02:54 rock and roll band.
02:55 The residency lasts from September to December of 2023 and consists of 25 concerts.
03:01 The show received wide critical acclaim, with journalists highlighting the performance of
03:05 U2 and their dazzling integration of the venue's state-of-the-art technology.
03:10 See the question may be more, will we enjoy going to the same place every night after
03:16 night?
03:17 That's the question.
03:18 Number 7.
03:19 It's connected to the Venetian Expo.
03:21 The Sphere was originally a joint undertaking between the Madison Square Garden Company
03:26 and Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
03:28 But Las Vegas has slowly watched this empty lot next to the Venetian Resort transform,
03:33 watching crews dig and build.
03:34 The latter provided the physical space for the building, carving out 18 acres of land.
03:40 Sands owned the Venetian until 2022 and by extension, the Venetian Expo Convention Center.
03:45 Las Vegas Sands announced it sold the Venetian, Palazzo and Sands Expo and Convention Center.
03:51 Apollo Global Management bought those properties for $6.25 billion.
03:57 Sands placed the Sphere just east of the Venetian Expo and connected the two with a 1,000-foot-long
04:02 pedestrian bridge.
04:04 By extension, one could argue that the Sphere is now part of the Venetian Resort Complex.
04:09 It's certainly within walking distance.
04:11 You can't help but stop and stare.
04:13 And plenty of people agree.
04:15 Number 6.
04:16 The building is run by James L. Dolan.
04:19 If there's one man we have to thank for the Sphere, it's James L. Dolan.
04:23 All of this starting with a simple sketch from Jim Dolan, owner of some of the most
04:26 storied venues on Earth, who decided to re-imagine entertainment.
04:30 Dolan is a highly successful businessman who runs Madison Square Garden Entertainment,
04:35 the general contractor responsible for bringing Sphere to life.
04:38 This is the kind of project where you have to stretch and you take a risk.
04:45 And tonight is when we see how that risk pays off.
04:49 By extension, Dolan also runs various New York sports teams, including the Knicks and
04:54 the Rangers.
04:55 Dolan has since expanded his reach and currently serves as the executive chairman and CEO of
05:00 Sphere Entertainment Company, the co-owner of the venue.
05:04 It's experiential.
05:07 It's unlike any other medium that's been out there before.
05:10 According to Sphere's website, Dolan is "the visionary behind Sphere" and is responsible
05:16 for the building's overall vision and growth strategy.
05:19 Number 5.
05:21 There will be an identical Sphere in London.
05:23 While the Sphere is currently a Las Vegas exclusive, that won't be the case for long.
05:28 There are lots of rumors that you're thinking about putting a Sphere other places, London
05:33 possibility.
05:35 What about New York City?
05:39 We would love to build in other places and that is our plan, is to build other Spheres.
05:44 The Madison Square Garden Company has announced plans to build various Spheres around the
05:48 world and there are current plans to build an identical Sphere in London.
05:53 The venue is still in its planning stages and is expected to be placed in the East London
05:57 area of Stratford.
05:58 The company behind the legendary Madison Square Garden is planning an exciting entertainment
06:03 and music venue in Stratford, London.
06:05 The London Legacy Development Corporation approved planning for the building in March
06:09 2022 and it is now awaiting legal approval and a review by London's Mayor, Sadiq Khan.
06:15 However, the venue has faced some opposition, particularly from locals who argue that the
06:20 land should be used for housing.
06:22 I imagine that everything just rides to the halt and then the local residents sort of
06:27 who rely on this as their transport in and out of the area, well then the services aren't
06:34 very reliable for them at those times.
06:37 It hosts an exclusive Darren Aronofsky movie.
06:40 If U2 isn't your thing, may we suggest a movie from Darren Aronofsky?
06:45 It's sci-fi fantasy meets nature documentary.
06:50 The footage shot on all seven continents is simply stunning.
06:54 If the name doesn't sound familiar, this is the Oscar-nominated director behind movies
06:59 like Black Swan, Mother and The Whale.
07:01 Listen, I don't know what's going to happen in the next few minutes.
07:04 If you don't mind, could you...
07:07 Yeah, yeah, of course.
07:10 Aronofsky made a movie exclusive to the Sphere titled Postcard from Earth, a 50-minute nature
07:15 short about two astronauts.
07:17 The film premiered at the Sphere on October 6th, 2023 and promises to be an immersive
07:22 experience unlike any other, complete with 4D technology and a crystal-clear screen measuring
07:28 nearly 400 feet.
07:30 Once you see the size of this thing, four football fields in size, it's an amazing feeling
07:36 to watch it.
07:37 Move aside, IMAX.
07:38 Sphere is here.
07:40 Number three, its screens have the highest resolution in the world.
07:44 Sphere is a dream come true for video nerds, and many will undoubtedly make the trip to
07:49 Vegas to see it firsthand.
07:50 He says the outside of the Sphere, the exosphere, offers countless possibilities as the largest
07:57 collective LED screen in the world.
08:00 Visitors are wowed without even entering the venue as the exterior consists of a massive
08:04 LED display that outshines even the brightest lights of Vegas.
08:08 The MSG Sphere is the largest spherical structure in the world with the largest LED screen in
08:13 the world, 580,000 square feet of programmable LED lighting that was shining bright for its
08:19 debut display on Independence Day.
08:22 Inside hosts the largest LED screen in the world, a wraparound display measuring 160,000
08:29 square feet.
08:31 And wouldn't you know it, this giant wraparound screen carries the highest resolution in the
08:36 world displaying a startlingly clear and beautiful 16K image.
08:40 It's impossible to describe.
08:43 It's like trying to explain what a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tastes like to somebody
08:47 who's never tasted one.
08:48 If this is the future of movie theaters, then we are absolutely here for it.
08:53 It won't be, but hey, one can certainly dream.
08:56 #2.
08:57 It features a state-of-the-art audio system.
09:00 It's not just the video nerds who will have a field day with Sphere, the audio enthusiasts
09:04 have something to admire as well.
09:07 The LED panels cover 1,600 X1 speakers, and audio can also be broadcast through the floor.
09:14 His team plans to deliver unprecedented sound quality in this one-of-a-kind venue.
09:19 It includes some 1,600 speakers, more than a few installed into the floor, and those
09:23 speakers will deliver audio on a whole new level.
09:27 All told, the venue boasts 167,000 speaker drivers and utilizes fancy-sounding technologies
09:34 like beamforming and wave-field synthesis.
09:37 With our technology, we're able to bring that proximity effect down to even an individual
09:43 member of an audience.
09:44 If you don't know what that means, that's okay.
09:46 Basically, it just means that Sphere sounds really, really, really good.
09:51 The venue's sound received unanimous praise in the U2 concert reviews, with Neil McCormick
09:56 of The Telegraph calling it "the best sound you have ever heard."
10:00 "This sounds like a guitar solo, but it's not.
10:06 Now you're back to sax."
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10:22 1.
10:24 It cost $2.3 billion to build
10:27 As you can probably imagine, constructing the world's largest spherical structure and
10:32 filling it with state-of-the-art video and audio capabilities doesn't come cheap.
10:36 "I want them to feel awe, but mostly I want them to feel enchanted.
10:40 I want them to feel like they're stepping into the future."
10:43 The building was originally supposed to cost just $1.2 billion, but the price massively
10:49 ballooned thanks to rapid inflation and supply chain issues.
10:52 "At what point did you realize the price tag was going to keep ballooning?"
10:58 By the time construction was done, Sphere had cost developers $2.3 billion, over $1
11:04 billion more than they had expected.
11:06 "Look, 2.3 is a pretty accurate number.
11:10 It's more than what we thought it was going to cost us."
11:14 This makes it the most expensive venue in the history of Vegas, beating the Raiders'
11:18 Allegiance Stadium by almost half a billion dollars.
11:22 Have you been to the Sphere yet?
11:24 Let us know how it was in the comments below.
11:26 You can't help but stop and stare, and plenty of people agree, crowds forming on the sides
11:32 of the street all around.
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11:41 Thanks for watching!
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