Topline
Shares of Sphere Entertainment jumped Monday after the company opened its Las Vegas venue, Sphere, over the weekend and videos of the band U2 playing the first-ever show at the venue went viral.
Key Facts
Sphere Entertainment shares were up more than 11% Monday morning following the venue’s launch over the weekend.
Videos of the spherical structure—which features over a million LEDS, stands 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide and is said to be the largest spherical structure in the world—filled social media over the weekend, increasing hype that appears to have spread to the stock market.
U2 performed the venue’s debut concert Friday, part of the “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere” show and used the venue’s all encompassing visual and audio capabilities—there are some 1,600 loudspeakers in the venue—to transport fans to another reality.
Key Background
The spherical venue, which sits among the bright Las Vegas skyline, cost about $2.3 billion to build. The venue got its unique shape when James Dolan, the executive chair of Madison Square Garden, made an initial drawing of a sphere on a piece of paper, according to the Associated Press. Sphere Entertainment Co. owns the sphere which was initially called the MSG sphere and is now called Sphere. While the Sphere Entertainment worked to bring attention to the state-of-the art venue and in July, the Sphere was lit up with a digital fireworks display that illuminated the Las Vegas strip. The venue, which Rich Claffey, the Sphere’s operations officer, compared to experiencing watching a movie on IMAX, will be used for music, film and sporting events.
Big Number
$400. That’s the lowest price for a ticket for the U2 show, according to Seat Geek. The band will continue to play at the Sphere through the end of December.
Further Reading
James Dolan’s Sketch Of The Sphere Becomes Reality As The Venue Opens With A U2 Show In Las Vegas (Associated Press)
Correction (10/2): This story has been updated to correct the title of the Sphere.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/10/02/sphere-entertainment-up-11-following-las-vegas-opening/