MSG Co. is "aiming to transform the way audiences experience concerts and events" with its new Sphere project that breaks ground later this year near Sands' Venetian and Palazzo complex in Las Vegas, according to Eli Blumenthal of USA TODAY. Sphere's features will include "Internet at each seat, bass pumped through the floorboards and screens that stretch across the ceiling." The project is in part a "result of the formation of MSG Ventures." One of the centerpieces of the venue, developed by Germany-based Holoplot, is called "beamforming audio, which sends sound directly to a specific location instead of blasting it over speakers spread through a venue." The Internet connectivity will allow fans to "create interactive experiences with performers." MSG Exec Chair & CEO James Dolan said, "You will not see a hockey game, a basketball game in the Sphere. The most sports thing you'll ever see is a fight." MSG is "betting big on technology to add features to the Sphere to make it stand out for entertainment and conferences." Beyond Vegas, it has "plans to open a venue in London while also exploring ways to bring some of it into people's homes" (USA TODAY, 2/9). Dolan said that construction on the Las Vegas venue would start in June. In N.Y., Oli Coleman wrote MSG aims to "build enormous orb-like amphitheaters across the globe" (NYPOST.com, 2/8). Dolan: "No longer is the venue a place to spectate. It’s a place to go [and] participate." POLLSTAR's Phil Gallo noted Sphere is "offering a combination of IMAX scaled to the 10th power, audio that defies logic and interconnectivity that smashes previous efforts" (POLLSTAR.com, 2/8).
