How the World's Largest Spherical Structure Was Built

THE SHINY, NEW LAS VEGAS SPHERE IS more than just a 17,600-seat amphitheaterstyle venue hosting a U2 residency. Since its opening in September 2023, it's become the world's largest spherical structure, at 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall.

- Tim Newcomb

Meanwhile, the seating bowl's 160,000-squarefoot spherical LED "immersive surface" lights up at full 16K resolution, making it the highestresolution LED screen on Earth. To add another wrinkle, the world's largest beam-forming audio system-think headphone-style sound without the headphones-tucks behind the immersive surface for a one-of-a-kind experience.

These three world firsts for shape, sight, and sound took at least 60 patents to produce, securing the Sphere's spot as a modern engineering marvel.

A Sphere within a Sphere // First things first: Why a sphere? "The Earth is round, so for us to have an immersive, transportive experience for our audiences, you need to mimic the environment that people live in," says David Dibble, CEO of MSG Ventures, which is responsible for the building's technology.