MSG Sphere is already slated to be the most expensive entertainment venue ever built in Las Vegas, and its price is only going up. according to painting, The cost of the concert venue is now estimated at $2.3 billion – more than $1 billion over its original budget.
When The Sphere—a 20,000-seat performance venue located near The Venetian on the Vegas Strip—was first announced in 2018, MSG and Las Vegas Sands projected the building to cost $1.2 billion before revising their estimates to $1.7 billion. However, recent documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that the budget had increased to $2.3 billion.
Some of Sphere’s increased costs can be blamed on the pandemic, which has halted construction and affected the industry as a whole. Officials said the latest change, however, was due to the “overall complexity of the project”. The building will feature 580,000 square feet of LED panels to allow easy aesthetic changes for different performers, as well as 170,000 ultra-directional speakers intended to direct sound to every seat in the venue. When you take into account the spherical shape of the arena, it brings a whole new meaning to surround sound.
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Despite the rising costs, SEC filings noted “significant progress” in building the Sphere, including LED lighting and hospitality suites on the inside of the arena. It is expected to open in late September with the launch of U2’s residency program “Achtung Baby Live At Sphere”. Tickets for those shows are available here.
