MSG gives up on the idea of creating a Las Vegas-type sphere in London

Back in March of 2019, Madison Square Garden Entertainment revealed plans to create a sphere in London. Fast forward almost 5 years, and those plans have completely sunk after MSG officially announced the decision to withdraw from the initial plan.

Sphere at the Venetian in Las Vegas has been one of the major talking points in the vast world of both technology and art for quite some time now. Best known for its immersive audio and video capabilities, the Sphere is at the very top of the list of the most breathtaking pieces of technology on the planet. What most people don’t know is that another Sphere was planned to be constructed. In March of 2019, MSG announced plans to build a 300 ft tall Sphere in East London, Stratford precisely. This Sphere could’ve had a capacity of 23.000 people, almost 6.000 more than the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Those ambitions have unfortunately fallen apart as MSG officially withdrew from the idea following the rejection of London mayor Sadiq Khan who stated that the Sphere would present a massively negative impact on the local citizens due to its light pollution and energy usage. The final decision was up to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Instead of awaiting the aforementioned secretary’s verdict, MSG announced that they would not proceed with the plan which they referred to as “merely a political football between rival parties”.

In a letter sent to the Planning Inspectorate, MSG said that it was extremely disappointing that the people of London would not want to benefit from the job opportunities the London Sphere would present, as well as its breathtaking technology. According to the Guardian’s report, the letter also said: “On behalf of both Stratford Garden Development Limited and Sphere Entertainment, I write to confirm that we are officially withdrawing our application from the Planning Inspectorate process.” A report from Sky News also says that MSG is pursuing a sale of the land on the East London site. Truly an underwhelming ending to what could’ve been a groundbreaking addition to England’s capital.