The Death Of The Vegas Sphere

[@PurelyHyperbolic]

The reason why the Sphere is failing is because it was constructed too late to be featured in any disaster-related movie from the 90s to 2010.

[@edu7979]

true

[@FreeINNOCENTPalestine]

Actually... Wow, why does it make sense?

[@edu7979]

@@FreeINNOCENTPalestine well its definitely a dystopian unnecessary megastructire

[@PROFESSOR_TV]

lmfao I can agree with that

[@theguilloriousmind5832]

True and inarguable

[@sunlessshadow9498]

This is basically a ‘Humanity built it’s own elder god’ and if you live anywhere near it, it blasts you with unknowable horrors (ads).

[@Bookworm214-y3d]

It does feel like we are in the age of worshipping consumerism

[@honeysucklebunny5932]

The sphere feels like the concept of a Phineas and Ferb episode

[@thebaseandtriflingcreature174]

sadly we don't have an -inator that can magically remove the sphere before Candace can show her mom the sphere.

[@bubblezxallxaroundx]

the biggest perk being it would disappear before nightfall

[@v-14415]

@@thebaseandtriflingcreature174 let her see it

[@endcaps1917]

Someone build doofenschmirtz evil incorporated near area 15 and am an inator at the sphere

[@snrkybrd]

it was! and the football X10 sphere was a lot more practical!

[@CartoonyAndor]

On the bright side, disaster movies in like 5 years will totally show this thing being demolished by an earth-shattering earthquake or something lol

[@matheussanthiago9685]

Have you noticed that disaster movies are more and more out? And disasters are more and more in?

[@initialyeet3951]

@@matheussanthiago9685lol

[@jurgennicht4626]

Facing the sphere everything is on the bright side 😎

[@wescole5979]

I still have no idea how people declared they would be turning the skyline of an entire city into a billboard, and somehow nobody stopped them.

[@UnknownPikmin]

america

[@wescole5979]

@@UnknownPikmin fair enough

[@mythicalbatmichael2509]

omg love your pfp

[@noconsent]

@@UnknownPikmin more specifically, vegas. the city that exists because the mafia needed to launder money.

[@VO1D333]

I like it

[@child.eater.and.yeeter9897]

Spending billions of dollars on an eyesore whose only purpose is to force people to watch ads when they try to look at the skyline makes me so sad. Oh my god, what are we doing.

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

If it was possibile corporations would put ads on the Moon

[@edu7979]

ive seen people say and i honestly agree that were turning intoa. cyberpunk dystopia without any of the cool flashy shit, no cool 80s cars (what we have r ugly dogshit ev revivals of good cars) no cool implant shit (outside of comparatively basic prosthetics), etc

[@yesterdayseyes]

It's not an eyesore because it's in Las Vegas at the Strip, there are bright lights everywhere, it fits right in. I was in vegas recently and year ago, both times I could watch it from my hotel and I never saw one ad, only different beautiful visuals. Often it was the moon, looked gorgeous. Vegas isn't for everyone, but the Sphere is very Vegas. The strip is only one street too, there is a lot of regular city and neighborhoods there.

[@Apollocreed2076]

A giant eyeball as an eyesore, LMAO 😂😂😂😅

[@matheussanthiago9685]

Blade runner ass time-line

[@sophiauban7352]

I heard someone say “but Vegas is a tourist city, people don’t live there.” I was shocked, gobsmacked, bamboozled.

[@ciarajeanr]

I guess my family isn't people 😂

[@overlordpichu5577]

proof if proof need be that well a tourist city might make lots of money, it can also utterly fuck the people who actually live there.

[@ciarajeanr]

@overlordpichu5577 What? I read your comment 5 times and it makes less sense every time. Can you throw some punctuation in there?

[@EmiL_from_NieR]

Wait sh!t where do I live then!? I’m concerned 😂

[@thatfatman6978]

Just all the slaves that keep the whole city running.

[@SOOKIE42069]

trying to set up the sound system in a giant sphere sounds like a fucking nightmare for the engineer. the amount of reflections and interference would be nuts

[@playgroundchooser]

Best sounding show I've ever been to. The AI that directs sound is on point for sure. Freekin cool.

[@SOOKIE42069]

@@playgroundchooser color me impressed! optimizing placement and angles to minimize interference does sound like the sort of problem neural networks are good at solving. I’ll have to see if they published a paper on their tech.

[@playgroundchooser]

@SOOKIE42069 I really wish I remembered where I read about the sound system. There's *thousands* of little speakers everywhere in the venue, even some in the seats. The AI knows the interference wave patterns of the sound and fires it off so each section feels like the entire sound system was tailored just for them. We were up in the 300s for Dead & Company, and we also popped down to the lower sections for a song, and it sounded exactly the same. 🤯 Big caveat: for a 30+ show residency; the sound engineers really only have to "get it right" a single time, then don't change any settings. I'm not sure how adaptable the system would be to a touring band. 🫤

[@playgroundchooser]

@@SOOKIE42069 check that: I found the article from Venues Now "LAS VEGAS SPHERE UNVEILS AUDIO SYSTEM Posted by Andy Gensler | Jul 27, 2023"

[@SOOKIE42069]

@@playgroundchooser That's probably going to be what proves to be the downfall of the sphere honestly; they can set up a couple profitable residencies a year but how do you make money during the other 80% of the time that U2 isn't literally headlining your venue every night?

[@Sleezy.Design]

The Vegas Sphere was basically just an expensive meme

[@Extraxi274]

...isn't that vegas

[@gehenna4346]

Thats good

[@Sleezy.Design]

@@Extraxi274 memeception, a meme inside a meme

[@selectionn]

@@Extraxi274 no, not really vegas has actual things to do there and can be quite entertaining the sphere does literally nothing other than be an eyesore and give tweakers and high people paranoid schizophrenia

[@defense200x]

Average L for the USA

[@evan]

I was so happy we rejected the stupid sphere in London. So many better use cases for the space than a giant round billboard

[@bassetts1899]

Evan Edinger spotted in the wild!

[@ImNotPotus]

Millennium dome much?

[@Turk_2023]

Yes like paying welfare to African invaders.

[@MondoMiami]

Instead you have the Walkie Talkie

[@glenndouglas8822]

​@@ImNotPotusHello idiot, the millennium dome is now a incredibly successful music venue. Great place.

[@lithium444]

I can only imagine how nice the view is at any hotel less than a kilometer from the sphere, especially when you're trying to sleep and it goes emoji mode and blasts the city with bright yellow light

[@RyanTerwilliger]

My apartment, sadly…

[@Hodapp]

@@RyanTerwilligerSounds like you’re lucky, free sphere shows 24/7 until it drives you to madness and you go in with a Killdozer and destroy it.

[@solitivity]

@@RyanTerwilliger Yeah, yeah. Go cry your tears made of gold, rich boy. 😂

[@PeachysMom]

Or when it transforms into an immense, glistening, staring eyeball, gazing unblinkingly into your windows

[@horsepowermultimedia]

It's even worse when it stares straight at you.

[@coolboyyo654]

i lived near a science childrens museam thing at one point when i was younger and they had an IMAX dome connected that'd do a mix of regular imax runs with some special made stuff for it, usually some form of documentary nature thing or educational bit for the kids. The seats were all SUPER leaned back at like a sharp angle so you "fell" into the seats almost. I feel like the whole Sphere is just an over-engineered version of that. i saw happy feet there and my mom still mentions the 20 ft tall penguins

[@GeahkBurchill]

Was it OMSI?

[@killitwithfire5377]

In our city there‘s a tech-art museum that has a similar thing. Only it‘s just a room and you sit on the floor while a guide holds a presentation with 3D visuals. It‘s actually really cool because it feels like the visuals fill the whole room and you just sit somewhere in the middle. It‘s about anatomy or the universe or paintings and stuff like that and it doesn‘t cost extra, it‘s just included in the entrance fee. This thing is (rightfully) very popular and draws in a lot of visitors. Why would you want a 2 billion dollar stadium version of that?? Especially if it‘s huge and bright on the outside????

[@JackiePearl]

Was it at MOSI?

[@Varphi_]

I remember that as a kid too, we had a planetarium at Fernbank in Atlanta

[@kevineckelkampe2r]

Omnimax dome st louis?

[@Chase_the_Great]

Heartwarming: the worst companies you know are failing

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

Me to Twitter

[@Gustoberg]

Really want late stage capitalism to do what late stage capitalism does in theory (fail and stumble on its untied shoelaces) and people somehow realize that capitalism is bad, but that the weird Laizess faire capitalism of the US and slave capitalism China fucks up everyone in the world

[@viscountrainbows2857]

It's great to see these companies flail desperately in real time. It's like, maybe people will start buying things they actually want, more than stuff they're telling us we should want, and so forcefully at that. Advertising and media engagement can be aggressive to some good ends, sure, but this is crossing into invasive. And people are needing an arm's length if not more, at last. They're not our friends. We are their customers. Remember that.

[@randyb.9143]

@@airplanes_aren.t_real Elon is in terrible shape physically as well and that may explain his quadrupling down on bad opinions and decisions regarding twitter. He is deteriorating physically and apparently that comes with his mental deterioration too.

[@mimik222]

@@randyb.9143this makes me so insanely happy to hear I may be going to hell but I’m glad to know I’ll meet Elon there 🙏

[@isdeirinnme]

I stayed in Vegas in a room facing The Sphere a few stories above the top of it. Holy hell is it bright, even in the context of Vegas. I don’t usually use the blackout curtains but I had to to sleep. Having a face stare what felt like was directly into my room was creepy too.

[@cainster]

The Sphere knows what you look like naked.

[@lord_ozymandias]

The Sphere knows all

[@vexorian]

I don't think I'll ever come up with something more clever than "Sphere and Loathing in Las Vegas"

[@cyrixis978]

@@humanatronachIt's a reference to the book 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'

[@jelliiifiiish]

wow, magnifico ✨️

[@fencefirst2722]

​@@cyrixis978the movie

[@lute6904]

@@fencefirst2722book adapted into a movie

[@onlyanuli]

@@fencefirst2722boff of em

[@wellimagamer8848]

It feels like something that Bart Simpson would somehow convince Springfield to build with the town's budget in some elaborate prank

[@HeavyDave997]

I can't imagine how much money they've spend on electricity and maintenance and for what? A giant meme that's distracting drivers and lights up tourists hotel rooms in the middle of the night

[@random_reader11]

at least most of that electricity is from a sustainable source 😜 (or so they say)

[@echelonrank3927]

@@random_reader11 yeh. power grid

[@snaifhassnan6348]

739-41

[@jakestavinsky3480]

Las Vegas resident, most of our electricity has always been from the Hoover Dam and we have a ton of solar programs, you can pretty consistently see solar panels on both residental and commercial buildings, since yknow, deserts have nothing but sun​@random_reader11

[@Someone-sc2hk]

to be fair the only people who can afford those hotel rooms are very rich people

[@JeffBilkins]

I kinda like it when the outside shows the Moon or some cool animated art but the giant ads are truly dystopian.

[@masaitube]

You have made a criminal, notorious liar and would-be dictator president... and he has a good chance of being elected again. What could be more dystopian than that?

[@luckyowl6432]

I know its only been a year but it feels like this Big Ball has been around for years and years

[@SQUIBYBOI]

Orball

[@overlordpichu5577]

what are you talking about? there has always been the sphere. the sphere is love. the sphere is life. one day we too hope to become one with the sphere. give yourself to the sphere.

[@luckyowl6432]

@@overlordpichu5577 all hail the Sphere

[@who___________________________]

@@overlordpichu5577 praise sphere love sphere live sphere

[@darkcrydotmrihavetoomanyst1440]

Sphere Sphere Sphere

[@jimmywood3924]

Imagine having schizophrenia and living in las vegas and all you see when you open you're window is a giant eye.

[@kevindoran9389]

Yeah......a second one would be really freaky.

[@KH-lq1lj]

UNLV student here. sometimes when I'm supposed to be studying in the library, I zone out and stare at this thing instead. Also, one of the roads I used to take to go home has the perfect view of this thing looming in the immediate distance. I stopped taking that road because I would get distracted staring right at it while I was driving. Based on the behavior of other drivers, I don't think I was the only one

[@kikiTHEalien]

University? 😮

[@sonablom]

This sounds foreboding. Like a horror movie.

[@Grace-er9ep]

Do you feel like it pulls you in like a moth to light?

[@KH-lq1lj]

@@Grace-er9ep yes. once the sun sets, it’s the brightest thing in the city

[@kate_6436]

@@kikiTHEalienuniversity of Las Vegas I assume

[@jorjapeach-f1]

During the Vegas Grand Prix (Formula 1 thingy), the Sphere isn't allowed to show blue, red, or yellow while the cars are on the track because it could become very unsafe for the drivers. They could get disoriented and not see the lights on their wheel, indicating danger on the track. Since this was a new track for them last year, it was very likely a crash could happen, and the FIA wanted to limit those risks. Especially considering that they are driving around 160 mph in that area and going around a curve. As you can probably tell, they didn't really follow that.

[@BuffABean]

What happened?

[@ulisessalduna4351]

@@BuffABean look at the sphere at 13:45 it's literally ONLY blue red and yellow

[@scratastic1]

The drivers themselves already debunked that story saying they can easily spot the difference between lights on the track and a giant glowing ball of light.

[@charlesgallagher1376]

@@scratastic1 can you image a driver of a F1 car confusing the lights in the car with the Sphere? These are the visitors Las Vegas loves. A fool and their money are soon parted.

[@Hello-lf1xs]

@@scratastic1it might be because of the thing where if you stare at a red light for a while everything looks blue for a bit afterwards?

[@KelpieMomma]

As someone who lives near Vegas and works on the strip intermittently, I LOATHE the sphere. The brightness doesn't bother me, but what does is the traffic it causes. On weekend nights if I go to park for work in the Venetian parking, traffic is backed up because they make everyone pay for event parking. The only ways to really get to the sphere are by foot either on the street or through the Venetian, but as far as I'm aware you can only LEAVE through the Venetian, so you have people walking down an area where there is no sidewalk, where people are operating heavy machinery and tractor trailers are passing by, and if you don't walk in that area you're basically walking on the street into oncoming traffic. It's ridiculous. Vegas has a partial monorail that could do SO MUCH for lessening traffic, raising revenue, and provising transportation for tourists AND employees on the strip. It would be far more beneficial to extend the monorail, but no! We got the Sphere built, and now theyre planning on expanding the stupid Tesla loop. Whats even WORSE is that we still have F1 for a minimum of two more years, up to 9 because i heard it was a 10 year contract, and they started road construction last month. So not only are there events at the Sphere every weekend where you're fighting traffic, but you're also fighting construction for f1 and road closures. It's insane. The people in charge of city planning on the strip really only consider what will bring in toursits and not us poor schmucks who have to work there.

[@polymagereco]

It really felt like they want Vegas to be less of a functional city and more of a really big Disney World (surrounded by poor people) to my eye.

[@BelindaShort]

It's awful. It's also hard to pay attention to the road because it's got constantly moving light

[@dmt472]

They got too distracted by the corporate investments to think about the tourists that'll go there regardless 😂

[@G3rmanhenry]

⁠@@polymagerecowhat’s funny is that Disney World is run much more efficient as a city than most cities due to them having full control of everything (bay lake & lake buena vista) from the fire department to the utilities. Vegas (specifically Paradise aka the strip) is more of a facade, looks nice on the outside but is rotten on the inside. The local cities have great communities but politicians and everyone making decisions is bought by money. They gotten very desperate since COVID lockdowns

[@kikiTHEalien]

Well, you that's what you get when you live in a tourist attraction. I honestly cannot believe someone would voluntarily live there for any reason, other than to work there

[@wojciechmuras553]

If there's one place in the world where the Sphere belongs, it's Vegas. There's no way this could fly in London. But in Vegas? This fits right in.

[@AuraTale]

We need a competitor that does the opposite. They make a big giant block called Cube and you trap people in there and make them suffer in the world's biggest escape room for free.

[@lightssbw]

you just gave mrbeast the perfect idea

[@endcaps1917]

That sounds like something straight out of area 15

[@GenesisAkaG]

There is a series of movies called Cube that does that kind of.

[@arizenation3188]

Deadmau5 literally did several of this in Vegas

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

There's literally a movie with that name and that promise.

[@smoretwink555]

It really is hilarious how ironic it was to have that short film about the planet and it's fragility be not only showcased but MADE FOR this thing that requires an ungodly amount of power to keep running 24/7 thus contributing to las vegas' already impossibly terrible carbon footprint. Or at least it would be funny if our planet wasn't actually, literally, currently dying...

[@monhi64]

The power is my biggest concern for sure, like I’m sorry kinda don’t care so much about messing up all the rich people’s views that live right there. But that’s a lot of power to toss away, at least it’s using a bunch of solar panels to generate which is less bad lol

[@PaulTomblin]

Isn’t Las Vegas almost or entirely powered by the Hoover Dam?

[@smoretwink555]

@@PaulTomblin it also required the damming of the river flowing through Yosemite, disrupting the area ecologically

[@PaulTomblin]

@@smoretwink555 That was over 90 years ago, so I think we can consider that carbon already spent.

[@yesterdayseyes]

The planet isn't dying 😂

[@jasminea.1686]

Light pollution is getting so out of hand. Went through Nebraska the other day and the stars are still barely visible. You practically have to go to MT to see stars.

[@dollinterrupted]

What’s MT

[@skipthefox4858]

@@dollinterrupted Montana

[@alexschwalbach8229]

​@@dollinterrupted the sky at night. No more stars since the sphere took over.

[@SpoopySquid]

Reminds me of a story I heard a while back when some US city experienced a blackout (think it might have been Chicago) and emergency lines were flooded with panicked calls from people seeing the night sky for the first time in their lives

[@skipthefox4858]

@@SpoopySquid I thought that was LA and what they saw was the milky way galaxy. ( or maybe that's just a different story )

[@A_Vile_Caffiend]

Sphere today, spgone tomorrow

[@ideegeniali]

underrated

[@anne1596]

I think another reason they have only booked older bands because the audiences of those bands are also older and more likely to have that kind of money

[@alexgarciamusic5360]

Anyma is a techno artist who plays large scale music festivals all over the world… what are you talking about?

[@nuubylol]

@@alexgarciamusic5360 he said he THINKS.

[@andriolas]

I'm a little backed up, I think I need an anyma 💦

[@capes8395]

​@@alexgarciamusic5360 that doesnt disprove OPs thought either. Two things can be true. Chill

[@awesomeferret]

@@alexgarciamusic5360 what are YOU talking about? OK, you mention the only techno artist to play in the sphere... Why does that mean that Anne is wrong about the MAJORITY of artists performing there? Anyma is barely relevant to this conversation since the majority of the bands that play there are "boomer bands", yet you tried to mock Anne for not knowing what she was talking about when she was the one actually sticking to the relevant context.

[@tobi_talks_2_much]

I remember getting SO PISSED that this light pollution machine was built. The more garbage they add to the strip, the farther you have to go to see REAL STARS. Vegas is already a horrible center for light pollution, and we don't need a machine SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO ELIMINATE AS MANY STARS FROM THE NIGHT SKY AS FEASIBLY POSSIBLE. Fuck the sphere.

[@rustkitty]

A wise man once said, there is nothing to fear but Sphere itself. I live by those words every day by staying the hell away from Vegas.

[@joemama8595]

I sphere this might be the best thing I’ve ever read

[@IStealButterdToast]

You should stay away from Vegas in general, that place is some other dimension

[@goldensloth7]

nice

[@Brwigames]

Deltarune

[@ms.wilson6439]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@afrolund80]

"You spent all this time thinking about whether you could. You never stopped to ask whether you should." - Jeff Goldblum, Jurassic Park

[@aidankelley2696]

i like how they spent 2.3 billion dollars on a sphere and are then like "but we made 12 million in profit...... uhh you got to recoup all the investment before it is ever "profitable", by this rate, it will take them roughly 200 years to get all their money back, thats what you would call a terrible investment

[@jakestavinsky3480]

I'm convinced finance bros simply know nothing about finance. People worship capital because it's the only thing they know

[@thenewsilverwolf]

@@jakestavinsky3480 as a fellow finance "bro", this is seriously it. Its like astrology for people who think they are smart. Its all speculation. A race to acquire as much money as humanly possible within as short of a timespan as possible. Its sick

[@charlesgallagher1376]

Come see the show and leave your money in the casino.

[@witeshade]

​@@jakestavinsky3480the thing is, some finance bros somewhere probably made a fuckton of money off it. And then eventually they'll run out of accounting tricks and then just write the whole thing off and someone with more money than god will take the hit and not notice, and then the city will be left with an ugly derelict and a bunch of rich people will be a bit richer.

[@91Caesar]

Thats not exactly how it works.... i mean dont get me wrong being proud of $12m revenune off a $2.3b investment is laughable, but the sphere itself is an asset that holds value. Think about it this way. You buy a fryer and start selling fried chicken. At any point in time you can just sell that fryer to someone else and recoup a portion of the cost. You wont get 100% of what you paid obvioisly, but the fryer does retain some value. So you dont have to sell enough fried chicken to fully recoup the cost of the fryer. You just have to sell enough to the point where you end up in a net positive when you decide to get out of the business. So lets say the sphere guys made $1b in profits running the thing, and then sell it for $1.5b. Thats $2.5b, $200m up from where they started (depending on the timeline involved this is still a pretty poor return). Despite never making more than the cost of the sphere, and selling the sphere for significantly less then they paid for it, they still come out on top in this extremely simplified scenario. So no, they dont need to make $2.3b just to break even. The sphere itself (as well as the land it occupies) retrains value that can be recouped via sale. I mean if they actually own the land, they might even make profits just on the value of that land growing over time tbh.

[@vitoc8454]

The Vegas Sphere seats ~18,000 people. The Toba Eruption was a supervolcanic event 74,000 years ago that reduced the *global* human population to like, 1000 to 10,000 people. There was a time that all the humans on planet Earth could fill maybe half the Vegas Sphere

[@sweepingdenver]

Why are you telling us here and not writing the next big Hollywood screenplay? Solar flares instantly kill everyone on Earth (even on the night side, because Reasons), except for the people watching a show in Sphere, because it happens to be the only building on the planet made of a special material that blocks solar flares. This crowd of Deadheads emerges to find that they have only one responsibility: to repopulate the planet.

[@Zersetzor]

That thing is such an eyesore, I can't believe anyone actually thought it was a good idea.

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

I guess an idea doesn't have to be good if someone is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at you

[@mrtophat12]

​@@bazzfromthebackground3696 no, people are just stupid.

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

Haha *eye*sore

[@wapnicawapnica9745]

exactly. i can justify its placement in vegas (bc vegas is already incredibly tacky and ugly), but london?

[@kymberrose1595]

I DONT WANT TO LOOK AT A GIANT GLOWING ADVERTISEMENT I WANT TO LOOK AT THE STARS

[@ScooterCat64]

It's hard to see the stars even in the most regular vanilla towns

[@pofuno]

GOOD THING YOU DONT LIVE IN VEGAS SMOOTH BRAIN

[@lemonwithalime]

@@pofuno People like you are the reason things have gotten this bad. Just do us all a favor and move to the middle of nowhere without internet.

[@thesargonas]

Ironically, 30-50 minutes outside vegas is some of the darkest skies in the US for the best sky watching

[@the_very_cozy_burrito]

THEN WHY ARE YOU IN VEGAS, THAT PLACE IS ALL LIGHTS AND SIGNS

[@ElMauber]

I live not even 10miles away from the sphere & is a total eye sore. I got to work there for UFC 306 & you can tell they cut corners in the backstage areas. _Loading docks/security/kitchens/production/dining rooms._ Good job Madison square garden & Populous design firm. A nice *_2.3 billion well spent!_* ☠️

[@v_eye_let_17]

It’s wasted on those of you who don’t appreciate it lol

[@ameliaduncan3236]

@@v_eye_let_17 Lick those boots a little harder, why don't you.

[@danbradshaw2223]

Of course the cut corners. It's a sphere, it has no corners.

[@kate_6436]

@@v_eye_let_17 you live in Vegas?

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

Madison Sphere Garden

[@Ryzard]

Yeah, they have 60 year old bands because if you played a popular pop artist with those sub 30, nobody could afford a trip lol

[@GalinaEv]

Wonder if swifties can

[@leeswift7883]

The Sphere is a perfect example of when a corporation puts the cart before the horse. The technology wasn't quite ready or available, they didn't think to maximize profits or had revenue streams lined up - bet they wonder how they've lost so much money

[@Connor37911]

Yeah. The gimmick itself has a short “oh cool” splash, but after that…what is it? An expensive bill board? An art exhibit/tourist attraction? A stadium? Can any of those even pay its bills, let alone make a profit?

[@TheWokeWarlock]

I agree about IMAX. People today have no idea what IMAX REALLY WAS. They get pissy when I say.. no… you’re not going to an IMAX.. you are going to a regular theater with the IMAX name slapped on it. I miss the old IMAX theaters… screen was 4 stories tall and as wide as your vision. The experience was amazing and I am shocked that they went out of style.

[@ianlister7333]

a beyond average UK town near me, was unable to put solar panels on a hotel roof because it was in a "historic conservation" area. The idea they could build a sphere with the external visuals in London is insane to the point ALOT of people would have needed some very expensive bribes. Also 16K, I have memory of Guardians 2 filming in 8K, but ive never heard of 8K since, never mind 16K

[@Gustoberg]

If it was filmed in photographic film it can very easily be scaled up and down up to 16k, but like, you know why no one used 8k anymore right? BECAUSE NO ONE CARES! 8k, hell even 4k, is pointless! We as a society don't have enough resources to mass implement 8k screens in every home, 4k is just a digital luxury item, 8k is a digital ultra luxury item to appease rich people, 16k is functionally a buzzword for the sphere to put on their pitch for companies interested in buying ad space on it.

[@hamzerpanzer]

​​@@GustobergI dunno about that, there is no way you could display 4k on something like an IMAX screen and not have it look like a blurry pixelated mess. I would imagine it's the same case for the gigantic sphere display

[@kate_6436]

Vegas isn’t really a normal city unfortunately it was built to be a tourist attraction. They don’t really care about the people who live there only what will bring more tourists in it’s really unfortunate.

[@kate_6436]

Las Vegas unfortunately was built to be a tourist town and is entirely centered around tourists so they don’t think very hard about the people who actually live in Vegas or the affect on the city . It’s only about what will bring in tourism which is unfortunate for the people who live there

[@kate_6436]

Yeah why expand the monorail when you can build a giant ball of light

[@FloraMHorta]

That minion looked like it has psoriasis or some type of dry skin condition... why did they make it look like that?!

[@FluffinWasntHere]

i think he's like the big minion on the new movie or sum i don't watch illumination movies

[@Janae.citizenofearth]

Vegas roads have been under continuous construction with no signs of improvement. They’ve spent all the money on the Sphere 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@EmiL_from_NieR]

The traffic cone is our state flower, fun fact

[@TheErikaShow]

I was 12 years old when they started road construction out here. I am 44.😂

[@dieSchreckschraube]

I thought the sphere was by a private company, whereas streets are paid for by the state.

[@lowwastehighmelanin]

Anyma is an Italian DJ that lives in LA now and is currently dating Grimes. He's actually super famous and headlines at EDC every year. His tickets are always that expensive. The End of Genesis is an album. The visuals for his work always look like that. Also it's pronounced like "ahnimuh" as in a human soul (from Latin) I realize this is really nerdy but I figured most people don't know. And now you do. *twerks away*

[@alexgarciamusic5360]

not nerdy at all, this dude just assumed nobody knows one of the most popular djs in the world lol

[@Reverse_Cowgirl-cat]

Isn't it a dome rather than a sphere? Or is the rest underground?

[@mostHumblePersonAlive]

This guy asking the real questions

[@ToyInsanity]

Sphere is short for hemisphere here

[@Scoots_McGee]

You're an underground dome

[@goldensloth7]

@@Scoots_McGee no u

[@charlesgallagher1376]

@@ToyInsanity IT’S A HEMI DUDE!

[@artistdudebro]

All of that money could've gone to helping the homeless, saving the environment, student debt relief......

[@monsterguyx]

"Should we build some affordable housing, or a big stupid dome that everyone will hate?"

[@bazzfromthebackground3696]

I'm not taking my ball and going home, _I'm taking _*_your_*_ home, and putting my ball there._

[@Chinothebad]

That's nice and all but unfortunately, it's Vegas. A city built by mobsters and used to take money from gamblers with an addiction. The sphere itself may as well act as an epitome in how trash Vegas is.

[@edu7979]

the rich arent interested in that sorry

[@artistdudebro]

@@edu7979 then what's the point of them? They argue trickle-down economics until they're blue in the got dam face, but would rather make an annoying waste of space advertisement ball. Heinous

[@thecatherd]

You've got my interest - I'm all sphears.

[@rainebows]

this isn’t a good sphere sadly

[@gabor6259]

The only thing we have to fear...

[@jeremiah2159]

Missed opportunity for a joke at the end there. "And maybe one day, the Earth could even be... a sphere."

[@TheCardboardStarship]

That robot breaking out of the sphere is kinda intense, I can imagine the sphere being absolutely terrifying to small children ngl 💀

[@folkloreofbeing]

I think small children will be in their beds when tus gig is on.

[@jelliiifiiish]

terrifying to small children & adults who have consumed psychedelic substances

[@krumdelakrum]

The giant realistic eyeball always freaks me out, I can't imagine seeing it in real life

[@99cpZebralily]

@@jelliiifiiish If only the Sphere had been around to be featured in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

[@starkstruckus]

Tbf, vegas is probably already terrifying to small children

[@zondervonstrek]

What! A giant overpriced, pointless, annoying thing in a tourist city that has been faltering for years is failing economically????

[@lach7324]

I hadnt known Vegas was faltering.

[@Blaxican102]

​@@lach7324 It isn't. This is the response you get from someone that comes from an area of no relevance so they just look to throw shade at any other city just because. As someone from Orlando I know first hand. People love to hate on it while there's nothing but transplants from the Northeast and Midwest that move here and out of towner plates here regularly that you'll see in traffic visiting our attractions. But yea, fuck our amenities and a good time, meanwhile they saved up for this vacation that us locals live daily. It was a privilege growing up in a place like Orlando especially if your family made sure you had a good childhood. Second to none as a 90s kid especially since Nickelodeon and universal was filmed here. Even my kids enjoy growing up here. There's actual shit to do

[@talonhammer]

Most tourist cities are faltering bc the economy sucks and less people are taking vacations (esp not to places where the main thing to do is throw money away)

[@kazumahazeuzumaki]

​@@Blaxican102Orlando is a blighted swamp, and that's all it will ever be. Worst city in Florida, hands down.

[@zondervonstrek]

@@lach7324 Read.

[@everydayangel]

i can only imagine the amount of light pollution caused just by the sphere cause my town has a mall with not even that bright green lights and you can see it from fucking miles away. how far away can you see the vegas sphere's light at night please vegas residents tell me

[@KH-lq1lj]

my friend lives literally on the edge of town, like her house is the last one between civilization and miles of nothingness, and its bright enough that at night I can just barely make out some of the ads on the screen from that far away... i have crazy good vision to be fair but its still wild that its possible at all

[@everydayangel]

@@KH-lq1lj oh jfc sounds fun. i can imagine seeing ads from miles away from the actual screen is pretty awful

[@driftadvocate1839]

​@@KH-lq1ljroughly how many miles away? Wild..

[@kellenfurter]

I feel like everyone is scrambling to create an 8th wonder of the world and they're actually making tacky cringe.

[@azurdlywisterious]

especially since the eighth wonder already exists (cant decide between the bass pro shop pyramid or the lemon demon song "eighth wonder" so just pick whichever one is funnier)

[@kellenfurter]

@@azurdlywisterious bass pro shop pyramid ✅️

[@chaos-sy1kq]

Lemon Demon!!!!

[@triggerfairy4070]

Thats modern art for you.

[@raisedfromash]

a Sphere in London the same height as Big Ben sounds genuinely terrifying

[@GregoryLindsey1979]

The 16K by 16K resolution of the Sphere is even more mindbogglingly huge than it first seems. 4K television is 3840x2160, which means the Sphere has more than THIRTY TIMES as many pixels as your typical 4K television.

[@CAMSLAYER13]

Its also much bigger than 30 times the size

[@GenesisAkaG]

@@CAMSLAYER13 In absolute terms, yeah. But in terms of %-of-your-field-of-vision I'd guess it's like 10x or 20x at most.

[@HillierSmith]

Didn’t know they’re planning to bring The Sphere to London, but clearly no one building it have studied the history of the historic failure of “The Millennium Dome”…

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

la Tent Millenniale

[@ottovonbismarck4497]

for reference, 104 million is about what twitter made in like a quarter, and they lost that in 3 months. wild.

[@AshChiCupcak]

I felt compelled to look it up and it says Twitter made 5 billion in a year, which what? How are they making so much? That was as of 2021 but I imagine it's still close to that.

[@jontedeakin1986]

​@@AshChiCupcakLol it is absolutely not close to that anymore

[@ottovonbismarck4497]

@@AshChiCupcak mb, i meant quarter.

[@AshChiCupcak]

@@jontedeakin1986 oh I imagine it dropped alot comparatively after Elon bought it, but they unfortunately are still making too much money

[@AshChiCupcak]

@@ottovonbismarck4497 Sorry, I wasn't trying to be like "oh yr wrong". I'm just nosy and like looking stuff up 😅

[@Sandtalon]

I have such a compelling urge to see The Sphere, it’s Calling Me and I can’t escape it

[@pisscvre69]

i still struggle to convince myself its real like nah, no way really? LOL

[@Alex-cw3rz]

10:34 I feel like if anywhere in the UK should have a sphere like that it should be Blackpool.

[@lucikka3674]

oh absolutely

[@lewiitoons4227]

Hard agree

[@xenotiic8356]

As a non-UK resident, I'm curious as to why

[@artyb27]

​@@xenotiic8356the simple reason that Blackpool is the UK's Vegas. Our damp, over-lit, only-open-half-the-year Vegas.

[@insertnamehere12]

​@@xenotiic8356Blackpool is very famous for it's illuminations, a series of crazy elaborate lights and lightshows that brighten up the coast of the town every night during tourist season (they're on a reduced amount on most days) Not to mention Blackpool is very similar to Vegas, just more family friendly and way prettier

[@grey8066]

as a vegas local, i hate the sphere

[@v3sterp0nk]

One of my friends used to live relatively close to the sphere when they lived in Vegas and it was an absolute nightmare trying to sleep at her house when I had a sleepover at her house

[@IStealButterdToast]

Who in their right mind wouldn’t move away the second that monstrosity was built

[@themischief420]

​@@IStealButterdToastbruh people can barely afford food, how are they going to just move

[@scratastic1]

Ehm,,This is either made up or are people nowadays actually too dumb to know what (blackout)curtains or roller shutters are?

[@Ecstacy333]

​@@scratastic1 maybe people shouldnt have to buy new curtains just because a company built a giant billboard by their house

[@themischief420]

@@scratastic1 are you dumb

[@thedestroyasystem]

How tf did the name Anyma get approved 😭 did literally nobody say it out loud? I was doing something else listening to just the audio and 100% heard ‘enema’ 😂

[@acid-angel]

tbf it is the name of an edm artist, so its hard to approve a name if you didnt make it up..

[@athenaceleste6326]

anyma is a super famous dj, mostly famous for his visuals which you just showed. it’s honestly gonna be super sick but the price is INSANE, no normal person can afford that

[@Causticfeline]

I would die to see Anyma but for that cost? I think I'll do the dying instead

[@Caldella]

TBF those did say they were resale tickets, which means those weren't the original prices. Seems like a broker or something scooped up a bunch of tickets knowing they would sell out, and now they're looking to resell them for a profit. Not sure how ridiculous the Sphere tickets are to start with, though.

[@Causticfeline]

@Caldella Even if my boyfriend and I went at the lowest seat cost, it would be more than $500. We also live out of state so there would be travel, hotel, food.... unfortunately just not gonna happen with the wages we make.

[@Caldella]

@@Causticfeline I'm not saying those prices aren't absurd. I had the same situation at a concert near me - the only tickets left for a concert I wanted to go to were resale asking $350+. I couldn't do that. I'm just saying that the resale prices are not determined by the Sphere or anyone involved with Anyma's show. If the only tickets left are resale, then none of the prices you're seeing are the original ones. The resellers hike the costs up to make money off people desperate to attend. It's basically ticket scalping.

[@Causticfeline]

@Caldella Very fair. Not a fan of that practice at all

[@staticaleel5068]

The only good ad I’ve seen on that fucking sphere was the April fools smiling friends ad that was put up just before the stop motion remakes of the first seasons episodes came out as the actual joke. And that’s only because the sphere played these episodes to people for free in the morning. Like a Saturday morning cartoon.

[@nachoolo]

Isn't the Sphere basically an overpriced planetarium?

[@personzorz]

It's also inside out.

[@shadypixel4478]

I literally went to a planetarium a few days ago that was basically the sphere, but it was much smaller and worked like an inflatable bouncy castle, and the best part? Everybody could see and paid like 5 bucks to be there

[@MexicanTeTe]

They should have got filmmakers to make custom space themed films for it, but I bet nobody wants to spend the money to create a 16k film that can only be properly viewed in one venue...

[@monhi64]

Yeah there’s definitely a similarity good point. I think it’s mainly the size difference, it’s so hard to convey how big this friggen sphere is. It’s literally about as tall as a skyscraper but in all directions. They probably could’ve done it for half the cost if they were willing to do 30% smaller. The lighting in planetariums is usually a lot more simplistic but they have some that are more like an imax screen but they’re smaller and not spherical like you’d expect a planetarium to be

[@jdraven0890]

You mispronounced "planet...arium" 😂

[@Nick-yq5uz]

*cost of living crisis* big tech responds: sphere

[@enickma910]

just think, if Sphere Co actually made money, there'd be a sphere on every skyline. Everywhere the light touches has a sphere.

[@sararobin9452]

Oh fuck you're totally right I'm so glad it's NOT making money

[@mirasmiraculouscraft]

I live near a major city with a science center. There’s a movie theater there shaped as a dome with half of it being the screen. “The Rangos boasts a 71-by 39-foot Certified Giant Screen, crystal-clear 4K images, brilliant colors, and rich surround sound.” I got to enjoy a movie about space and it was only $10 AND even when sitting far in the back I could still see everything above me. I think I got the better deal.

[@kevineckelkampe2r]

St louis has the OmnIMAX dome, we love it.

[@JuniperJadePR]

London's already had enough with giant reflective death rays that melt things.

[@pudgesnextturnaround3112]

That one time when the UK accidentally built a liquidator ray

[@Evanz111]

Came here expecting to learn about the LA Sphere, instead now I’m in a rabbit hole of ‘instant migraine relief binaural beats’ and wondering if people are just experiencing a communal placebo effect or something :’)

[@ethanmorrey7026]

Guess we doin spheres now

[@Squiggy8440]

So the sphere is a digital theatre, makes sense why its a pain. The sphere would work fantastically for vocaloid/ utauloids. They’re already digital singers, which can create such an amazing visual audio experience

[@tanaka1477]

Truly the Concord of the geometry world

[@shadypixel4478]

You win

[@scottyo64]

Someone knocking the Sphere who has never been there lost all credibility

[@loonypear]

Pinely AND Drew Gooden upload on the same day?? Goated

[@vinegar...]

i think the ultimate flaw in The Sphere is that they made it out of big screens and put it in Las Vegas when, instead, they should've constructed it entirely out of obsidian and placed it within the San Francisco Bay Area where it could emit an ominous hum

[@vixxenti]

this would be one of the things people would claim that aliens built

[@thewanderers97]

no because white people built it so they didn't need aliens because only ancient people who are not white need aliens to help /s

[@reddburg]

The dystopian future is here & it's really lame. Money wasting eyesores, unaffordable housing, & dangerously bad weather.

[@HumbleAshe]

Huh, hadn’t heard about the giant Vegas sphere for months now until Pinely mentioned it. It still feels fun-quirky with the huge visuals from clips I’ve seen, and I’d admittedly like to check it out from the outside (inside feels kind of hollow), but it also feels like it would be a huge drain on money and city energy, especially with the outside sphere effects and other drawbacks being mentioned here. Also, Whoo the Pinely doodles are back!

[@AshChiCupcak]

The only reason I'd ever want to go is if they had a good EDM artist there. I think they had one, I forgot who it was but it'd be perfect for the crazy visuals that come with those concerts, but that price pretty much keeps most people from ever being able to go. Edit: nvm he mentions them in the video. I would never go to a concert for those prices, my god

[@weregretohio7728]

It's comical how fast the obnoxious hype died off.

[@montanarose4622]

It’s also unfathomably bright and obnoxious to people’s views. Want to sleep in your hotel? Too bad, you have no blinds and SpongeBob is blasting neon yellow in your room.

[@quentinstayskull2464]

I went to vegas and saw the sphere! It was broken

[@dyawr]

lol

[@sophiauban7352]

Las Vegas really said “FUCK PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY”

[@scratastic1]

Ever been there before? Before the sphere, there were already enough lights and huge very bright screens with more flashing content than the sphere does. From the clips I've seen so far most transitions seem to go pretty slow and fluent on the sphere, like they actually thought about that part. Not saying I think the sphere itself was a smart investment of money and use of resources btw.

[@electrified0]

That's been the city's slogan since the 1980s

[@Wormpole]

Epilepsy is caused flashing lights over a certain speed not by bright light

[@capes8395]

Where have you seen any flashing lights from the sphere ?

[@VTX-Live]

If you have a meltdown by seeing some lights, maybe don't go to Vegas lol

[@anonymousdogg1559]

I wanted to visit Vegas before watching several sphere videos of people not being able to sleep because of the overwhelming amount light you get in your hotel at night. The sun is less intrusive

[@playgroundchooser]

Every Vegas hotel room has blackout curtains. At least every one I've been in.

[@unicornpupart]

@@playgroundchoosersame it's really not that bad

[@Alejandro-420]

I will say, as someone who has been to more concerts than I can count. When I went to see phish at the sphere it was truly a one of a kind experience. I have seen them like 7 times prior and it was absolutely mind melting. Nothing compares to it

[@Peayou...]

Is this a joke

[@Alejandro-420]

@@Peayou... no, i managed to get tickets to the Friday night show and freaked out. It is a completely unique experience. You sit in your seat and the bass resonates through it. The sound also bounces back and fourth, it is literally a concert heaven. It just sucks that it is so difficult and expensive and obtrusive.

[@talonhammer]

Only if you happen to get good seats, they sat Eddy Burback behind a column or something iirc (if not him, he at least talked about those seats in his sphere video)

[@TylerWardhaha]

@@Alejandro-420now I’m confused. You’re acting as if sound reverberation is a plus. However, it’s not. Reverberations are not what you want in a theater, concert hall, or any venue where you have sound. I’m afraid I’m now convinced you are joking…

[@Alejandro-420]

@@TylerWardhaha see I also thought the reverberation would be an issue, I was very fascinated with it because I am currently studying music production, But I believe with the way the speakers are setup, they are behind you, and the fact that the band is going direct in, no amps or anything, means that the only sound is coming from said speakers and the waves have either dispersed by the time they hit the screen or the screen is designed in such a way that it absorbs sound. Any refractions of sound waves were not noticeable to me. Especially when compared to almost every indoor stadium venue, sound usually SUCKS at normal big venues and the refractions at those places are crazy😂 the sphere was designed as a music venue not a host every event possible venue

[@mkygod]

Many venues make the bulk of their money from alcohol and merch instead from tickets, so the box office revenue doesn't tell the whole story.

[@Astar24653]

of COURSE pinely made an entire video just to show the minion ad

[@maojiejie]

I saw the Aronofsky movie in the Sphere. You’re right to call it boring - It’s easily one of the most boring movies I have ever seen, and Im someone who loves documentaries. The nature shots were really cool! But the sci-framing was terrible (and also kind of eco-fashy honestly?) and the shots with tall buildings made it obvious we were in front of a curved screen. It was wild seeing everyone all excited walking in to the movie leaving bored and deflated. Now I will say I did enjoy the images and the ads that were playing when I was there- lots of fun and cute stuff- it was during the winter holidays - but I can see how depending on when you’re that it can be a completely different experience.

[@glamrockmike]

the pine library is so pretty

[@Dumb-Comment]

People in charge aren't bright enough to use it properly, just use it to feature epic movies or something

[@marnmalue9135]

I could already see someone managing to replicate this in VRChat or something

[@alaska2026]

Imagine if they played music or sound effects from the sphere that you could hear from the street 😂

[@Misscouchpotato-]

Last December I landed at the Las Vegas airport and you can see it from far away and people were SCREAMING on the plane when they saw it.

[@thexsoar]

Feels like a 'if you build it, they will come' kinda thing, without the awareness that 'if it is too complex and expensive, it won't profit'.

[@SorcererDragon]

I had no idea the inside was a giant VP stage, genuinely if the ousted was actually cool architecture and not overwhelmingly bright, it probobly would have done better. I’d probobly personally be way more interested in it

[@andyb2977]

It did its one job, as far as I'm concerned. Freaking me the fuck out while driving back to the Wynn at night and seeing a gigantic cartoon face staring at me from the sky...

[@YamiVT]

Anything but spend money on healthcare, housing and schools

[@aneasteregg8171]

Ah yes because that's what the entertainment industry should be funding

[@undeadreader23]

As if crackheads don't have enough to deal with, imagine starting up a humble, mom and pop style bender at 2 in the afternoon and the eye of god stares down at you

[@jamestaylor3805]

I still cant wrap my head around this project getting approval.

[@Beeevaaa]

so it didn't die and the title was clickbait then

[@cheeplethebulldog1420]

7,206 homeless people are in Las Vegas. The average price of a small house is 469,000, with median listing price per square foot being 268 dollars. Correct me if I am wrong, but if one person were to live in a house, 5,543 at most would be living in a house. Considering that apartment buildings cost from 75,000 at its cheapest to 600,000 at its expensive, with 50-400 units (as in each room) I can conclude that the sphere was a waste of money, and shows the blatant failed attempt of a government trying to hide its bad image.

[@puxkx5827]

If ads were allowed for the 2025 AVN Expo, I have no doubt that they would easily recover that $104M.

[@joedavenport5293]

All that money could have been used on things like schools, roads, transit and other infrastructure. Things a fast growing city like Las Vegas really needs.

[@roseyaxolotl6272]

The education system is actually horrible, the food we get here is basically inedible. Especially construction and infrastructure, it's just frustrating to see. it is cool on the inside, but 100% not worth it.