Now I Am Become Sphere, The Destroyer of World Tours
How The Sphere is Going to Ruin Entertainment As We Know It
Photo courtesy of The Sphere Entertainment
By Tyler Boshard
Two thousand years ago in Rome, after a violent power struggle over the course of a year and four different Emperors, Vespasian took the spoils of the siege of Jerusalem and ordered the construction of a new amphitheater like the world had never seen, to display the might of Rome, and entertain the masses — the Colosseum.
The Colosseum was a spectacle on its own, despite whatever was happening in the arena, which included everything from gladiatorial combat to filling it with water and having naval war reenactments. It was a wonder of the world then, and it still holds the record to this day as the largest amphitheater in the world.
When you build a theater as a spectacle, do the performances become secondary?
Theaters for the arts and performance venues have been built in cities and towns all over the world for millennia. Artists and entertainers have also been traveling to the people. Initially, they’re the stereotypical band touring anywhere and everywhere in a van to get their name and music out to the people. But there comes a point where the artists hit points of notoriety where they start to expect the people to come to them, or at least meet them partway. As artists get bigger, their tours have fewer dates, bigger venues and even less cities in which they perform.
Las Vegas, residencies, and The Sphere are doing all they can to reduce that list of cities to one.
In 1944, in a version of Las Vegas that would be hard to recognize today, Liberace started what we know as a residency, something Pollstar Awards link later defined as playing ten or more shows in a single venue by The Pollstar Awards. These took place in small, intimate clubs and theaters where Sinatra and the Rat Pack would continue what Liberace started.
That was until July 31, 1969. On that date, Elvis started a four-week stint of shows that ended up going for seven years and a total of 636 sold-out performances at The International Hotel. Elvis brought rock-and-roll and large theater residencies to the Las Vegas music scene.
Ever since then, we’ve been dreaming of, and building, bigger and better theaters and shows.
Residencies and Las Vegas have been synonymous for ages. Four of the top five highest-grossing residencies have been in Las Vegas, the other being Billy Joel in New York. But a high-grossing residency has historically taken several years and hundreds of shows to get to.
Celine Dion has the most successful residency of all time with “A New Day…” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which brought in $385 million ($543 million in 2023 dollars) over five years and 714 shows, which was just over $500,000 per show.
For comparison, as I’m writing this, U2 has committed to 36 shows at The Sphere, which is an extension from the originally planned 5. If we break down some numbers, it’s obvious to see why they’ve extended their time here.
With GA floor space, The Sphere accommodates about 20,000 people. If we assume an average ticket price of $250, they’ll be bringing in about $5 million per show, and potentially $180 million over the 36 show run. That’s before we factor in the $50 T-shirts.
The inside of The Sphere during U2 concert. Courtesy of Tyler Boshard.
Due to dynamic ticket pricing, we can’t know the actual average prices until final numbers are reported. Since ticket prices start around $140, and U2 and Sphere representatives have stated 60 percent of tickets will be below $300, so I used $250 as a conservative average.
This is shaping up to be 10 times the average per-show revenue of Celine’s record-setting residency, which would account for 33 percent of her total five percent of the time. These numbers are in line with U2’s average revenue of their concert tours with considerably less operating and logistics costs per show.
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing U2 at The Sphere twice now: front and center in GA, and back of the house nosebleeds. In my opinion, it’s the greatest venue ever built, and there’s not a bad seat in the house. But I also fear for what it could do to the industry and people whose favorite bands might not go to their cities anymore.
A concert tour for a large act like U2 is a monumental undertaking with a lot of moving parts, stakeholders, and costs.
According to U2 tour director Craig Evans, the band’s latest Joshua Tree tour from 2017-2019 required 196 crew members and 48 trucks, making up three groups operating in a leapfrog fashion to facilitate the multi-day construction times for the staging.
The Sphere can switch from one show to the next within a few hours with U2 one night, and The Sphere Experience with Darren Aronofsky's, “Postcard From Earth” playing at noon the next day. Which is exponentially faster and cheaper than standard transitions.
A business endeavors to minimize the cost of production and increase sales so that it can maximize profits, and a band is no exception. With The Sphere’s technology, the cost of producing the most incredible spectacles is a digital effort, and it’s easily changeable from one performer to the next without massive crews and logistical efforts.
Another shot from the U2 concert at The Sphere. Courtesy of Tyler Boshard.
The Sphere has kept us guessing from the beginning, using mystery and rumors to their advantage. There are still no details on who’s playing next which leads to a lot of speculation. Perhaps Lady Gaga popping in for a few songs with U2 recently was a hint of something more. According to The Sphere's CEO James Dolan in their most recent financial report has stated they hope to host two residencies in the first half of 2024, but nothing official.
This leaves room for a lot of other artists to fill in any gaps in the schedule for one or two-night shows.
There’s a lot we won’t know about the financial impact of U2’s residency and The Sphere until it wraps up and the dust settles.
However, on Nov. 8 2023 Sphere Entertainment Company released their first quarterly earnings report since The Sphere opened and publications have started reporting on The Sphere’s $98 million loss for the quarter. The headline isn’t wrong, but misses the point, and makes you think about Betteridge’s law of headlines. Reporting a major loss was to be expected having only been open for two days of the financial quarter.
Reported revenue for The Sphere was $7.78 million for the quarter, $4.06 million was event-related from the two U2 shows, which I presume included a lot of comps for press and VIPs for the opening. Mr. Dolan also stated “The Sphere is already profitable.” and “The U2 thing is off the charts, and has challenged a lot of artists to match that.” which implies the next quarter's earnings report will be very different with revenue from U2, Postcards from Earth, F1, and large ad runs that cost $450,000 per day.
As a U2 fan, I’ve been overjoyed by their residency at The Sphere. But as a Las Vegan, music fan, and armchair economist, I worry about what it means for the price of seeing shows here for us, as well as those without the means to get to Las Vegas.
Like home prices, many of us can quickly and easily be priced out of the market.
If you go to concerts often, like me, you’ve probably noticed ticket prices have been getting higher and higher and tour stops fewer and fewer.
When a band can offer a vastly superior concert experience in The Sphere in fewer days, with higher prices per ticket and lower operational costs, it could become an easy decision for them.
Las Vegas is the world's playground, and The Sphere adds a whole new level of demand to an increasingly constrained supply of such a unique concert experience…
In time, we'll see the impact of The Sphere. Will it be a wonder of the world like the Colosseum? A new canvas and cathedral for artists? A new billboard for lawyers? The nail in the coffin?
Perhaps it will be all of the above.
