MSG Sphere Planning Sports Partnership With Formula One Race In Las Vegas In November 2023; MMA, Boxing Events Possible, Too
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The MSG Sphere arena in Las Vegas is designed for music and flashy LED images, but one of its biggest events after it opens will be a sports collaboration with the Formula One grand prix race in Las Vegas in November 2023.
The F1 car race on the Strip will have a 3.8-mile, 14-turn route that will go through the Sphere’s 17-acre site behind the Venetian hotel-casino, with hundreds of grand prix race fans watching the action from temporary grandstands to be built outside the 17,500-seat venue.
The Sphere is supposed to be completed in the second half of 2023, but it sounds like it will be ready to roll by the time the Formula One race comes to Las Vegas in November of next year.
Nick Tomasino, senior vice president of construction for Madison Square Garden Entertainment, joined Lucas Watson, who was named president of the MSG Sphere only two months ago, in leading LVSportsBiz.com and other local media on the construction tour that included the “topping out” celebration Tuesday.
The whiz-bang technology and construction numbers were equally stunning and impressive, especially the 580,000 square feet of LED technology that will be installed on the building’s exosphere. By the way, there are 14 latitudes involved in that and the LED panels that will start to go up in July will take 10 months to finish.
The arena will be open for the Formula One fans who buy a ticket to watch the race from the grandstand, Watson told LVSportsBiz.com. Inside the Sphere will be the highest resolution screens in the world.
Besides the Formula One partnership, the Sphere will be able to stage MMA and boxing matches. But basketball and hockey games will not happen.
Watson told LVSportsBiz.com there have been initial talks with UFC about the idea of staging an MMA fight show in the Sphere. But he acknowledged that UFC is a tenant at T-Mobile Arena, so more talks will be needed to hash out any deal.
There will be 17,500 seats with room for 2,500 standing room only visitors inside the Sphere, bringing the total potential attendance to 20,000, Tomasino said.
The highest level will be eight levels about grade, with 1,600 construction workers and tradesmen on sight at maximum work times.
To keep the venue cool, there will be three layers of air conditioning, though Madison Square Garden has not decided whether to go with Nevada Energy as its power supplier or an outside third party, Tomasino said.
The building’s exterior will be used to promote the venue’s sponsors and also promote content — a similar concept you see at T-Mobile Arena and the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium.
The stage will be built on level with the general admission floor, which can hold up to 9,000 people, Tomasino said.
The Sphere will be entering a crowded venue landscape in Las Vegas, with nationally-known arena developer Oak View Group proposing a $3 billion entertainment complex, which includes a proposed $1 billion, 20,000-seat arena. Tim Leiweke’s Oak View Group wants to build the arena at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road south of the Strip.
“We’ll have to compete,” Watson told LVSportsBiz.com. “Our venue is distinct.”
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