UFC’s Sphere Headache Shows Challenge of One-Off Events & Concerts at Las Vegas Venue  

On Saturday (Sept. 14), UFC CEO Dana White will pull off an impressive first in Las Vegas that he never really wanted to do — and has already vowed never to do again (due in large part to his contractual obligations to MGM).

That day, White will host Noche UFC, a 10-bout celebration tailor-made for Mexican Independence Day (which is coming two days later, on Sept. 16) as the first sporting event inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, the $2 billion arena built by James Dolan that has so far hosted rock residencies by U2, Dead & Company and Phish.

While White has not been shy about plugging Noche UFC as one of the most visually stunning and technologically advanced events ever in combat sports, he’s repeatedly sworn in the media that it’s “a one-and-done,” recently telling MMA reporter John Morgan, “We’re not ever doing an event at the Sphere again.”

That’s because, as White explains, the cost of doing an event at Sphere is so astronomically expensive — especially building video content for Sphere’s one-of-a-kind interactive video system — that it’s virtually impossible to make one’s money back through ticket sales alone, especially for one-time events. (White also has a contract with MGM to host his events at the T-Mobile Arena).

“Think about U2,” who served as the Sphere’s first 40-show concert residency beginning in September 2023, White said on SNY Sports on Tuesday (Sept. 10). “Whatever that cost them, they had 40 nights to amortize those costs. We just have one.”

The budget for Noche UFC, originally forecast at $8 million, has exploded to more than $20 million due to production costs, sources tell Billboard. Making matters worse, ticket sales for Noche UFC appear to be in a death spiral, with fans balking at the event’s original $3,500 per ticket asking price and scalpers offering nearly as many tickets for resale as are still available on the primary market, often at steep discounts.

That $3,500 ticket price is also considerably more than the average $120 per ticket that the company charged for Noche UFC’s 2023 edition at Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, an upcharge associated with Sphere’s huge production costs. Noche UFC is taking place at Sphere because executives with MGM Grand, one of the largest gaming companies in Las Vegas, reached a deal with boxing promoter Al Hayman for the date that UFC was supposed to have under a 2017 anchor tenant agreement at T-Mobile Arena which, White has said, “totally f–ed us.”

Until now, Sphere has hosted U2’s 40-date run; a four-night string of concerts by Phish; and Dead & Company’s 30-show residency that wrapped in July. For each, the bands created custom lighting and video productions designed specifically for Sphere’s groundbreaking display that would be effectively unusable at any other venue, meaning that the possibilities of Sphere being a stop on any artist’s regular tour routing would be essentially untenable.

UFC is also leaning into Sphere’s capabilities. Between bouts, the company will screen 90-second video vignettes, produced by outside partners like Valerie Bush and the production company Antigravity Academy. The videos, sources tell Billboard, are custom-built for Sphere’s massive high-definition screens and require expensive post-production work and computer rendering that only Sphere Company officials can handle.

Even the rehearsal hours for Noche UFC are difficult: White recently announced at a press conference that because Sphere airs a nightly film, he can’t get his team into the building to rehearse the show until 1 a.m.

All of which poses additional issues that make Sphere difficult, if not impossible, to accommodate most one-off events, particularly if production costs come with a $20 million price tag. UFC can recoup some of its financial outlay through pay-per-view sales, but it’s heavily relying on average ticket prices of $3,500 that fans aren’t buying, and a pay-per-view model, whether live-streamed or on television, is not straightforward for the music business.

Dolan, however, never marketed the facility as a one-time event host and it’s likely that some of the production costs associated with the Sphere will drop over time as the market for cloud computing recedes. Besides, Dolan hasn’t been shy about how his future ambitions will make Sphere more approachable.

The best way to reduce the costs of producing events for the Sphere, company officials said on a recent earnings call, is to build more Spheres. After losing out on a bid to a Sphere in London, Dolan reportedly has a half-dozen new locations in mind.