The Madison Square Garden Company’s MSG Sphere, a state-of-the-art venue that will use cutting-edge visual and audio technologies to create a unique experience for Las Vegas tourists and locals alike, recently took the news media on a hard-hat tour of the site to see construction progress. The site covers 18 acres and and is located on Sands Avenue behind The Venetian Resort. When completed, the MSG Sphere will seat between 17,500 and 20,000 people depending on the seating arrangements and a wide variety of content, including attractions, concerts, residencies, family shows, corporate events, awards shows, product launches and sporting events. The tour was conducted by Nick Tomasino, vice president of construction at The Madison Square Garden Company.
In describing the MSG Sphere project, Tomasino explained that it’s “a venue that incorporates all of the senses. On the inside of our venue, we have one of the world’s largest LED screens at 160,000 square feet—that’s the equivalent of three football fields if you can just imagine. And it’s the equivalent of 100 times the high-def of your television at home. The LED screen immerses you from the front, the sides, above you and a bit back of you so you’re fully immersed in it’s reality.”
In addition to the LED screens, Tomasino also spoke about another sense that will be satiated at the venue, explaining, “The sound is a new technology, never implemented before, utilizing BeamForm technology which allows you to have the same experience whether you’re sitting in the back of the venue or the front of the venue,” adding, “Our venue will allow for a wide variety of attractions—we’re looking to be able to host concerts, residencies, corporate events and much, much more.”
The MSG Sphere at the Venetian is approximately 875,000 square feet and nine stories tall (366 feet tall). Tomasino compared it to the Palazzo which is at 465 feet and said that “puts things in a little bit of context as to the large scale of our project.”
