TINSEL TOWN TERRACES

LA's planetarium-inspired Cosm has been acclaimed as the world's best place to watch football on a big screen - following in the footsteps of Danny DeVito, FFT headed there to learn what all the fuss is about...

- Words James Andrew

The crowd hold their breath as Leandro Trossard looks to find space on the edge of the area. Going one way and then the other, the anticipation grows further as the Belgian takes aim, before rocketing the ball into the corner to put Arsenal ahead at Sunderland.

All around FourFourTwo the crowd are going mad, but this isn’t the away end at the Stadium of Light, nor is it a pub in North London. This is more than 5,000 miles away in Los Angeles.

FFT have joined hundreds of fans who have gathered at 9.30am at Cosm, in Hollywood Park, to watch the Premier League fixture on an 87-foot diameter, 12K+, dome-shaped LED screen. You really feel like you're inside the stadium itself - albeit it’s slightly warmer than the North East and the food is better.

As the Arsenal players celebrate, they seem so close that it almost feels like you could join them yourself, or at least shout something they'll hear. Quickly, though, you sit back down on your leather sofa, pick up your drink and remember you're not actually there.

This isn’t like watching football on TV at home - having previously seen videos of the gigantic Cosm screen on social media, FFT are now savouring this new shared reality experience for ourselves, and fast realising that it takes witnessing live sport from afar to a completely new level. It’s fresh, it’s new, it’s immersive. If you've ever slipped on a virtual reality headset, it’s a feeling akin to that – just without the clunky noggin-wear and with friends around you, experiencing the same thing at the same time.

The venue has a number of exclusive camera angles that make it so unique. One is on the halfway line, which makes you feel like that’s your seat inside the stadium - if you turn to either side, you can even see the people sat next to you inside the ground, 5,000 miles away.