this $2.3 billion sphere in Las Vegas is the world's largest and most technologically advanced four-dimensional spherical structure truly a miracle of engineering the MSG sphere is located within the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and is like no other building you've ever seen but how is it constructed how can anyone possibly make a sphere of this magnitude and why make it in the first place join us today as we figure out how and why the world's largest sphere was built first of all we have to understand the scale of the structure we're dealing with we're talking about a monstrous 54,000 s m 112 m high7 m wide Marvel with an exterior featuring millions of LED lights these lights aren't just another pointless party trick they give the MSG sphere the capability to look like anything and everything with only a click of a button useless wait till you hear about its applications remember the 2026 soccer World Cup that's going to be held in the US well the sphere will be able to turn into into a soccer ball similar to how it was able to morph into a basketball during the 2023 NBA Summer League finals and on Halloween night you guessed it the sphere turns into a massive orange clowing pumpkin from interactive commercials to event announcements the possibilities are truly endless but enough of what goes on outside the sphere what about the inside imagine a colossal 16k X 16k highresolution wraparound LED screen measuring 15,000 s m that's 2 and 1/2 times s the size of the White House this screen covers almost the entire interior's curved walls and roof turning it into a real life video game the interior also features 4D effects such as wind sense and climate control that take the viewing experience to another level it's safe to say the inside of the MSG sphere is equally as impressive as the outside but how did it all get started in the first place an Architecture Firm known as populace was responsible for Designing the Las Vegas sphere early signs for the sphere's success were looking good as populist are responsible for some of the most iconic designs around the world from the 2012 London Olympic Stadium to the Hard Rock stadium in Florida that hosted Super Bowl 54 the project was first announced in February 2018 with a groundbreaking ceremony being held in September 2018 to celebrate the first day of construction with the date of completion set to be sometime in 2021 to start off with everything was going to plan but then 2020 arrived and construction would be suspended in March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic and everything came crashing to a halt after a painful and very expensive 5-month delay construction restarted in August 2020 and the date of completion had been pushed back to 2023 but that wasn't the end of the MSG sphere's troubles the pandemic brought delays but it also brought price increases Supply chains around the world had become disrupted due to the chaos of the pandemic and the MSG sphere wasn't immune to these issues msg's initial estimates for the project were at 1.2 billion US but in February 2020 this was hiked to $1.66 billion as a result of design changes it doesn't end there with inflation and supply chain issues gripping the planet the final expected cost for the sphere is estimated to reach $2.3 billion yep billion with a B that makes it the most expensive entertainment venue in Las Vegas history this Marvel of engineering had a design and construction process that even the best Architects would struggle with I'm talking about a construction crew of more than 1,500 people all working together to bring this project to life just to prepare the site for building 84,000 cubic M of dirt was excavated construction started in September 2018 and only a year later sometime around October 2019 the basement and ground level of the sphere had been completed this wasn't any old basement the MSG sphere's basement was 880,000 Square ft and would be used as a public space for events with bars retail space and in true Las Vegas fashion a number of gambling tables and slots progress was quick and in December 2019 the sphere reached a height of 65 ft with four out of eight levels built already it was already looking imposing on the Las Vegas landscape due to the size of this structure normal building equipment just wasn't enough in February 2020 the world's fourth largest crane had to be set up to lift construction materials we're talking about the dmag cc8800 crawler crane this crane was transported across the Atlantic Ocean from Belgium to California in pieces the crane was so massive that once the construction workers were done using it it took a smaller crane 18 days to disable the main crane let that sink in in March 2020 the sphere was 108 M tall and it was all looking great then like we said before the pandemic decided to show its face and there was a painful 5-month delay but in August they were back to work and construction restarted in October 2020 the most complex part of the construction process was completed which was the lifting of two 240 ton Steel girs by the dmag crane and another 170 ton compression ring the dome's roof alone required 3,000 tons of steel and began to take shape in March 2021 with the installation of Steel trusses truss installation was completed in June 2021 which meant it was now time for the exosphere to be installed this consisted of the Interior frame that supports the LED screens and would give the MSG sphere its iconic look by May 2022 the exosphere was completed and the LED lights could finally be installed nine floors were in place it was all coming together nicely the interior includes the world's largest Ultra highresolution LED screen that will display custom displays made exclusively for the MSG sphere you can't just put a DVD in and pray it'll work every piece of content that is shown in the sphere will be fully customized in fact the MSG sphere's screen is so unique that it required the opening of specialized studios in mid 2022 MSG sphere Studios opened in California to handle the production and post- production work for the interior screen of the sphere filmmakers and musicians had to be involved in the production process as every bit of content shown on the interior screen would have to be created from scratch this might seem a little unbelievable but the MSG sphere Studios itself is a miniature version of the full-sized MSG sphere it stands as a 100t tall sphere so that the video and audio content can be effectively tested that's called attention to detail in front of the Interior screen you'll have 18,600 seats on nine different levels the designers arranged the seats so so that the venue can be used for all different purposes we're talking concerts award shows MMA fights boxing events Esports competitions and more the entire venue is built with flexibility in mind as a spectator sitting in the seats of the sphere you can expect the experience of a lifetime imagine viewing the world's biggest and highest resolution LED screen while sitting in a chair that has built-in haptic technology and high speed internet access as for sound quality we're talking about the best of the best the sphere will be equipped with a spatial audio system comprising of 1,600 speakers installed behind the LED panels and another 300 mobile modules a technology called beam forming is used to deliver sound to each seat in the same way so that the volume remains equal for all the seats the sound system is also designed in such a way that sound will be delivered through the floorboards you heard me right there's a reason this building cost over $2 billion ticket sales were announced in April 2023 and almost a million ticket requests were submitted on the first day in fact there was so much demand that Ticket Master announced that there would be no general public sale but the story of the MSG sphere doesn't end there there are plans to build another sphere in London England as a similar entertainment venue to the one in Las Vegas the project gained approval in March 2022 but has been put on temporary hold as a public planning inquiry takes place into the project as for other locations there's been talk of MSG planning on building a number of these spheres across the world only time will tell whether these plans come through as for now now we have the iconic MSG sphere in Las Vegas to [Music] admire
