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United States Displays

A Second US Sphere Could Come To Maryland (theverge.com) 42

Posted by BeauHD from the small-but-mighty dept.
Sphere Entertainment plans to build a second U.S. Sphere near Washington, D.C., with a smaller 6,000-seat "mini-Sphere" proposed for National Harbor in Maryland. The venue would retain the signature LED exterior and immersive 4D tech of the Las Vegas Sphere, just at a more compact scale. The Verge reports: The second US sphere would be built in an area known as National Harbor in Prince George's County, Maryland. Located along the Potomac River, National Harbor currently features a convention center, multiple hotels, restaurants, and shops. While Abu Dhabi plans to build a sphere as large as the one in Las Vegas, the National Harbor venue would be one of the first mini-Sphere venues announced last March.

Its capacity would be limited to 6,000 seats instead of over 17,000. But the smaller Sphere would still be hard to miss with an exterior LED exosphere for showcasing the "artistic and branded content" that helped make the original sphere a unique part of the Las Vegas skyline. The inside of the mini-Sphere will feature a high-resolution 16,000 by 16,000 pixel wrap-around screen, the company's immersive sound technology, haptic seating, and "4D environmental effects." For the AI-enhanced version of The Wizard of Oz currently playing in Las Vegas, audiences experience effects like wind, fog, smells, and apples falling from the ceiling.
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A Second US Sphere Could Come To Maryland

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    • Perhaps they'll build a pair of them next to each other?

      • Re: Trump Sphere (Score:4, Funny)

        by Epeeist ( 2682 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2026 @03:59AM (#65936484) Homepage

        Perhaps they'll build a pair of them next to each other?

        With a mushroom in between?

        • Johnson: I don’t know, sir, but it looks like a giant–
          Jet Pilot: Dick.
          Dick: Yeah?
          Jet Pilot: Take a look out of starboard.
          Dick: Oh my God, it looks like a huge–
          Bird-Watching Woman: Pecker.
          Bird-Watching Man: [raising binoculars] Ooh, Where?
          Bird-Watching Woman: Wait, that’s not a woodpecker, it looks like someone’s–
          Army Sergeant: Privates! We have reports of an unidentified flying object. It has a long, smooth shaft, complete with–
          Baseball Umpire: Two

  • so what stock to short?

  • Losing even more money (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Monday January 19, 2026 @09:43PM (#65936022) Homepage

    The Las Vegas sphere has been losing tens of millions of dollars every quarter. With this new sphere, maybe they can make up for some of those losses in volume!

    • Maybe, since the first copy of anything costs a fortune to develop. The engineering costs for the second will be vastly smaller, and the content production costs probably none (though the content licensing costs probably increase in proportion to audience size).
    • I stayed at the Wynn with a good view of the Sphere back in October. Thing is packed every fucking night, and it's honestly fucking amazing.

      They pulled in over a billion in revenue in 2025. I have no doubt they'll sort it out. I recall the CEO saying something like, "I wish we'd known exactly how to run this thing when we first lit it up, but that's just not the case".

      If you ever see it from the outside, and then see it from inside- it'll click for you. That thing is not going to fail.

  • What is the terminal velocity of a falling apple?

  • Please don't let John Waters anywhere near this...

  • The las vegas sphere was such an absolute boondoggle and continues to lose money it's suprising there's any management left to throw out new, worse ideas.

  • As a Canadian, I don't know how many of the patrons of these facilities would - in saner times - come from other countries. But if tourist traffic is expected to be a significant source of revenue, they'd best put these plans on hold.

    I know that various media outlets, chambers of commerce, and other not-impartial pundits are downplaying the huge drop-off in foreign tourists. These "news" sources ignore or outright deny the impact on tourism of the ICE gestapo, the additional friction and outright risk of cr

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dskoll ( 99328 )

      Yep. If the US continues on its current trajectory, it would not surprise me if most/all European countries boycotted the FIFA World Cup.

    • Foreign tourism is absolutely dwarfed by domestic tourism.

      To put it in one sentence, it's a rounding error.

      • Re:I have to wonder... (Score:4, Interesting)

        by shilly ( 142940 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2026 @03:06AM (#65936412)

        Arithmetically kinda sorta true, a 6 to 1 ratio, but economically misleading. Most obviously, international tourists bring new money to the US, it's an export business. Domestic tourism is reallocation of spending that would have largely happened anyway. Domestic tourism is also a stable business and slow-growing, whereas international is much more flighty and prone to disruption. On the margin, it drives more growth or loss in employment and other economic impacts than domestic demand. Put these together and this is why it becomes important: if domestic tourism slumps 10%, the US doesn't lose 120bn, and most of that spending still occurs anyway, but if international tourism slumps 10%, the US really does lose 22bn. And it's actually slumped more than that, and that's not chump change even given the US's giant GDP. Especially given that the spend is geographically concentrated, so particular markets are hit harder.

        • Arithmetically kinda sorta true, a 6 to 1 ratio, but economically misleading.

          I'll grant you that I did exaggerate, but it's far more than 6:1.
          About 12% of tourism revenue is international, so 8+:1.

          Most obviously, international tourists bring new money to the US, it's an export business.

          It's about $180B a year worth of money brought into the US.
          So it just about counteracts remittances sent out of the country.
          Frankly, that's just not a huge economic impact.

          Domestic tourism is reallocation of spending that would have largely happened anyway.

          Sure, but that's what powers economies. Not inflows and outflows of dollars to the country- the generation of economic value does.
          The US became the largest economy in the world in the 19th century with highly isolati

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by shilly ( 142940 )

            I think we’re not actually disagreeing on much here. My figures were based on 1.2 to 1.5tn of domestic spend and 0.22 of international spend, hence 6 to 1.

            Sure, international tourism is way, way less important than domestic tourism or inflation. I just don’t think it’s nothing, especially given regional concentrations. And I neither think that the greater marginal impact of international tourism compared to domestic is good nor bad, it just is what it is. It’s a description, rather t

            • I think my overall point, is that the US can survive on its own. It can even thrive. Historically, it did exactly that to rise to the largest economy on the planet.
              I'm very much a globalist, so this isn't my desire or what I vote for. However, just argumentatively speaking, I'm not concerned about Trump's foreign policy causing the economic decline of the US. More so, I see it as just flat out dangerous, because as he destroys US soft power, he leaves one lever left to wield for future Presidents- US hard

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by shilly ( 142940 )

                It will for sure be from the inside-out. I have said for some time that he’s Shitler: full of malice but less competent. But possessed of far more potential power.

                • Like the shittiest caricature of Hitler.
                  Hitler himself wasn't particularly competent, intelligent, or wise. But he was smart enough to surround himself with highly competent, highly intelligent, evil fucking people to make his will be done.

                  Shitler has himself surrounded by people equally as fucking stupid as he is. It is, perhaps, the saving grace that makes it so I can sleep at night.

  • Very impressive, but costly. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Monday January 19, 2026 @10:55PM (#65936134) Homepage

    Everyone that goes to it loves it. It is supposed to be an incredible experience. The problem is it was way too costly to build and they can't charge enough to make it profitable.

    But it attracts a lot of people. Some may consider it a loss leader: something to bring people to your business where you lose money on it, but make money on the other purchases customers make.

    • It is fucking amazing.
      Having a hotel room on the 50th+ floor gives you a surreal view of it.

      I have an annual conference I attend in Vegas at the Wynn/Encore, and I hit the Sphere every year since it's been lit. Money well fucking spent. Even shows that might feel "meh" are still just spectacular to see.
      The thing is packed every night. They'll figure it out.

  • So it's a time machine, I take it?

  • The Las Vegas sphere is a gimmick that has yet to turn a profit and and still has the expense of construction and ruinous electric bills to cover. Even if it manages to break even some day it will be decades before it pays its debts off, if ever. And no doubt we'll see them turn the lights off to save money to hasten that on.

    So why the hell would anywhere else want one of these things? Maybe Vegas has a conveyor belt of idiots willing to pay $200+ for a lightshow to make the model just barely viable. Mayb

  • location is everything (Score:4, Insightful)

    by gtall ( 79522 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2026 @04:49AM (#65936564)

    They plan to put it right next to I-465 and I-295, the latter has a fly-over from MD 210 to I-295 and that flyover is buttcheek next to the new orb. And they plan to plaster the outside with images on the LEDs that will cover it. It will be a (^&*% traffic disaster as people watch it instead of the road.

    • A pedestrian bridge over Rt 29 in Columbia wanted to include murals, but that was disapproved as it would be distracting to drivers. I know I have a difficult time ignoring the TV screen in (usually) minivans playing shows for their kids. Your eye wants to follow motion.

  • Why are we conserving energy anywhere? It reminds me of that "Jaws" scene where Brody throws his little water pump down in his sinking boat.
  • Admittedly I am curious. Though after looking at the location, there is no way to get there by train. Given Greater DC traffic, I have to say that is lame, but not a deal breaker. I’m in Philly metro and I drive all, or most of the way, to DC about half the time I go. If it just me, or me and the wife or one of the kids we take the train. But if it is the whole clan we drive. Parking, tolls, and powering the EV is less expensive. Time wise, it’s usually faster to drive in and slower to drive out

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