Sphere is spectacular. The brainchild of New York Rangers owner James Dolan, the $2.3 billion immersive entertainment venue opened on the Las Vegas Strip with a U2 residency on Sept. 29, 2023.
Even in a glitzy city like Vegas, it stands out.
It is the world’s largest spherical building, 366 feet tall, and it is wrapped with the world’s largest LED screen, 580,000 square feet of LEDs. The Exosphere is so bold and bright that it can be seen from space. People peek out of airplane windows as they land at and take off from the airport nearby.
Inside is the world’s highest-resolution LED screen, playing 16K content that wraps up, over and behind the audience. One hundred sixty-eight thousand speakers create 360-degree audio optimized for every seat.
The NHL often thinks outside the box, putting outdoor games everywhere from stadiums to the shores of Lake Tahoe, coming up with NHL All-Star Skills events in places like the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas and Fort Lauderdale Beach in South Florida.
This is the first time, though, it has thought inside a Sphere. The first round of the 2024 NHL Draft was also the first live broadcast event for a major sports league at the facility. Rounds 2-7 will be Saturday (11:30 a.m. ET; ESPN+, NHLN, SN, SN1).
The content that would work inside a typical arena with big screens wouldn’t work here, so Sphere Studios collaborated with the NHL to create custom content inside and outside. For the first time, content inside was optimized for the TV audience as well as the venue audience, and live events were incorporated into real-time content outside.
NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer and his staff put in countless hours to make it happen. After the Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday, Mayer flew overnight to Las Vegas for an early morning rehearsal at Sphere on Tuesday.
“We’ve set out to create the most amazing introduction to the NHL for these young players and their families in the most innovative venue in the world,” Mayer said.
