After being rejected by London, the company behind Las Vegas’s Sphere venue has announced that the second city to get one of its high-tech spherical venue complexes will be Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates capital was tipped as the next city to get a Sphere last December, after plans for a London venue fell through, and amid reports that proposals in both Saudi Arabia and South Korea had “stalled”.
“The vision for Sphere has always included a global network of venues and today’s announcement is a significant milestone toward that goal”, says James L Dolan, speaking with his Sphere Entertainment CEO hat on, after Sphere was spun out of his other company, MSG Entertainment, last year.
“Sphere is redefining live entertainment and extending the reach of its transformative impact”, Dolan continues. “We are proud to collaborate with the Department Of Culture And Tourism in Abu Dhabi to develop Sphere in their city”.
As Dolan notes, the Sphere business plan is ultimately dependent on there being multiple venues with similar specifications around the world.
Obviously, a key component of the venue is the wraparound LED screens, inside and out, with the audio-visual content displayed on those screens a crucial part of the experience, even when big name rock bands are performing.
Indeed, many of the shows at the venue are just audio-visual. In November, there are four Eagles concerts, with the rest of the programme made up of two immersive film experiences, one the general ‘Sphere Experience’, the other a film version of the U2 shows that previously took place there.
Creating that audio-visual content can be expensive. The budget for a recent UFC martial arts event at the venue reportedly topped $20 million, ten times more than usual UFC productions, in part because of the creation of six bespoke short films that were screened as part of the event.
London was set to be the first city in that network beyond Vegas, with plans to build a Sphere venue in East London alongside the Olympic Park.
Although plans were initially approved by the relevant planning authorities, there was opposition from local residents because of the light pollution the screen-covered venue would create. Meanwhile rival venue operator AEG raised logistical concerns because people heading to the Sphere London would, in part, have had to travel on the same tube line as its nearby O2 complex, potentially causing transport difficulties.
Based on that opposition, London Mayor Sadiq Khan ultimately blocked the project, prompting a somewhat disparaging response from the Sphere company, which said, “there are many forward-thinking cities that are eager to bring this technology to their communities - we will concentrate on those”.
In its report on the announcement that Abu Dhabi is the first of those “forward-thinking cities” to get a Sphere, Billboard asks whether the kinds of bands being booked to play the Vegas Sphere would have a natural audience in the UAE city, which would enable Sphere to tour shows and the accompanying film content across its venue network.
Billboard adds that “since the end of the pandemic, only a handful of concerts from American artists performing in the UAE have been reported to Billboard Boxscore”.
However, there’s a strong argument that venues like the Sphere are as much a tourist attraction as they are a conventional concert venue, which might make Abu Dhabi a good choice. Earlier this year Abu Dhabi approved an initiative called Tourism Strategy 2030, which aims to boost visitor numbers from 24 million in 2023 to 39.3 million a year by 2030, with a target of 7% year-on-year growth. That’s not far off the number of visitors Las Vegas achieved last year, which was 40.8 million according to official figures.
And the Abu Dhabi authorities certainly seem keen to make sure the Sphere is a success there. Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chair of the city’s Department Of Culture And Tourism, says, “We are excited to bring Sphere to Abu Dhabi in partnership with Sphere Entertainment, providing our residents and visitors with an extraordinary new form of entertainment”.
“Sphere Abu Dhabi will seamlessly integrate advanced technology with captivating storytelling, creating unforgettable memories for everyone who visits”, he goes on. “This partnership aligns with our Tourism Strategy 2030, further establishing Abu Dhabi as a vibrant hub for culture and innovation. By embracing cutting-edge entertainment like Sphere, we're not only elevating our global profile but also setting new standards in immersive experiences and cultural offerings”.