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A Sphere Odyssey: Inside Las Vegas’ 360-Degree Entertainment Revolution

February 7, 2024 - By Sasha

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Do you remember that Bill Hader character on SNL named Stefon? The guy who was always giddy with excitement to tell you all about New York's hottest new club? That's how we feel here at the CashorTrade office talking about the brand-new Las Vegas Sphere.

Sphere Stefon

While we couldn't get a spot on Weekend Update to tell you all about it, we're still just as excited to give you all the details about this incredible new venue. Before we go any further, make sure you join our Sphere Tickets for Face Value group on Facebook.

Sphere Stats

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've surely heard about this state-of-the-art venue that's just off the iconic Las Vegas Strip. We've been waiting years to see this vision come to life, and it sure is impressive.

Here are some stats to put Sphere into perspective:

  • Cost $2.3 billion to build
  • Measures 366-feet tall and 512-feet wide
  • The largest spherical building in the world at 875,000 sq ft
  • Seats 17,500; 20,000 including floor
  • Features 1.2 million hockey puck-sized LED lights
  • 10,000 of the seats feature Haptic technology, which allows concert-goers to feel the sound vibrate
  • Features the highest-resolution screen in the world at 19,000 by 13,500 pixels
  • Has the world's largest concert-grade audio system with 167,000 speaker drivers, amplifiers, and processing channels
  • 4D features such as scent and wind can be utilized

Sphere truly is a wonder of design and engineering. It's one of the very few instances where the venue is an attraction in and of itself. Social media is already full of pictures and videos people are taking from their hotel rooms in Vegas when Sphere lights up.


Inside Sphere Image from Las Vegas Review Journal

U2 Residency Opens Sphere

If your friends love going to shows as much as ours do, your feed has probably been full of videos from the recent U2 shows that officially opened Sphere for business.

You know... videos like this one.

The famous Irish rockers started their 25-show residency at the end of September. Not surprisingly, the demand for tickets was astronomical. They added 15 shows, extending their stay at Sphere until early March.

Before they even finished playing their classic album Achtung Baby at that first show, social media was flooded with videos from inside Sphere. Live music lovers worldwide had the same thought - "I have to get to a show there!"

U2 Sphere

Image by Stufish Entertainment Architects

Even though there has been crazy demand for these tickets, plenty of fans sold their extra tickets for face value on CashorTrade. We love to see that, even for these shows where the scalpers are out in full force.

Sphere Gone Phishin'

Ever since Sphere announced U2 as the opening act, live music fans have been speculating about who would be tapped next. There was talk of Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, and Harry Styles, among others.

While U2 was nearing the end of their first leg of shows, the venue lit up (pun intended) late one night with the announcement of the next round of shows - a 4-night Phish run over 4/20 weekend. It just so happened to occur while a cannabis convention was in town. Talk about target marketing!

Sphere Phish

As usual, Phish had their ticket lottery for the shows before the general on-sale. Phans all over the country put in their requests (including a good chunk of the CoT office) and waited in eager anticipation. Many opted to purchase a travel package to lock the tickets in.

With just four shows at Sphere, everyone knew the demand would be high for these shows. Still, it was a bit surprising to join the waiting room and see 30,000 other people ahead of you. Within minutes, there were lots of digital fingers in the air looking for extras.

Many phans started wondering if these would be the toughest Phish tickets yet. We'll see if that turns out to be true. It's certainly a tough ticket at this point, but know that CoT has your back and we're trying to help phans in their quest to see Phish at Sphere for face value. Here are a few things that we recommend if you're ISO for these shows:

  • Set an alert on CoT for the show(s) you're looking for. Click here to learn how to set alerts.
  • Consider becoming a gold member. There are plenty of perks including lower fees and early notifications.
  • Get creative with trades. We've already seen some great examples like this post looking to trade King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard tickets.
  • Keep the faith. Phish fans are a resourceful bunch and we believe in you!

Will these be easy tickets? Probably not. But this happens all the time with Phish tickets. People will bail as plans and priorities change. Those who can't find more than one night will likely turn to CoT to sell those to other phans.

Don't give up hope... keep dreaming! Several of us here at CashorTrade also have fingers in the air and many are planning on making the trip to Vegas one way or the other, so we'll see you in the desert!

See Available Tickets for Phish Sphere

Dead Forever

We heard rumblings for a few months about a potential Dead & Company run at Sphere, and it's official! They dropped a massive hint when the state-of-the-art new venue became illuminated in tye-dye with a giant Stealie.

The next day, the band announced their "Dead Forever" residency with 18 dates starting on May 16 and ending on June 22. Shows are happening every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Shortly thereafter, D&C added another six nights, extending the historic run to July 13.

Demand for these shows will be high, but Deadheads are already buying, selling, and trading tickets for face value on CoT. Be sure to join the Dead & Co Face Value Tickets group on Facebook where you can post your extras or an ISO.

See Available Tickets for Dead & Company

We'll see you out there in Vegas! As Hunter S. Thompson once famously said - "Buy the ticket, take the ride." As long as it's a face-value ticket, of course...