Media New details on how the UFC plans to use The Sphere

[svmr_db]

Full THR article:

Inside the UFC’s $20M Bet on the Las Vegas Sphere: “Take What U2 Did and Multiply It by a Million”​

The TKO-owned MMA company is betting on a film, immersive worlds, director Glenn Weiss, and Academy Award nominated producer and director Carlos López Estrada to create a new form of live sporting event.

On Sept. 14, the $2.3 billion Sphere in Las Vegas will see its 160,000-square-foot curved LED screen teleport the 20,000 or so guests to different “worlds,” with the mixed martial arts giant UFC set to take over the venue for what will be the Sphere’s first ever live sporting event.

According to UFC CEO Dana White, the idea sprang from the Sphere’s opening act a year ago: The U2 residency.

“I went to U2 at the Sphere, and halfway through the show, I started to realize the Sphere was the star of the show, not U2. I was blown away by the technology, and I started thinking about the possibilities of what we could do,” White recalls. “I guess I looked at this thing and said, ‘Eventually, somebody is going to come in here and pull off a sporting event. I want to do it, I want to be first.’

“If you take what U2 did and multiply it by a million, that’s where we are,” White adds. “It’s a whole other universe, not even another level. It’s a whole ‘nother universe what we’re pulling off on September 14.”

And while most UFC events focus on the fights, for the Sphere event — titled Riyadh Season Noche UFC — the venue will be just as much in the forefront, with plans to run a film told in chapters celebrating Mexico’s contribution to combat sports serving as interludes on the massive screen in between bouts, and the participation of people like director Glenn Weiss, best known for leading live TV events like the Oscars and Emmys (“He said, ‘This is insane. What you guys are trying to accomplish is truly insane, but I am absolutely in,'” recalls UFC chief content officer Craig Borsari).

As for the fights themselves, Borsari says that each bout will take place in a different “world” projected on the enormous curved screen, with the films and settings serving to tell a larger story that celebrates Mexico and the Mexican people. The headline fight will see Sean O’Malley face off against Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title, with Alexa Grasso taking on Valentina Shevchenko for the flyweight championship.

“At the highest level, we were trying to think about, how do we put on a live MMA fight — 10 fights throughout the night — and not take away from the fight action, not take too much time in between fights where we slow things down, but also tell this other story about the Mexican people and their heritage and their culture, because it’s rich and it’s deep,” Borsari says.

The result was a partnership with Academy Award nominated producer and director Carlos López Estrada (Raya and the Last Dragon, Blindspotting), who worked with filmmakers and production companies to create the film, which will be broken into roughly 90 second long segments and will serve as interstitials in between the bouts.

“Those would be our main drivers for storytelling, everything that Dana wanted to get across … those films then transition into what we’re calling these worlds, which is like these environments that take up the entire LED screen, that then the fights sit within,” Borsari says. “So there’s what we call a film and a world and an act. So there’s these acts that take you through the entire night, and we tell the story within those acts.”


It’s an ambitious project, both for the TKO-owned combat sports promotion, but also for the James Dolan-controlled entertainment venue, which is trying to gain a foothold outside of music residencies. If the UFC pulls it off, one can imagine other sports wanting to figure out a way in.

Of course, creating that immersive experience isn’t cheap. White says that most of the UFC’s pay-per-view fights cost it about $2 million, but they had budgeted $8 million for the Sphere. Now, he says, the cost has topped $20 million.

“I said, ‘I’m doing this.’ I didn’t give a shit what the budget was, I’m doing this,” White says. “I truly believe that this is going to be a game changer, where sports and entertainment truly come together for the first time ever. And I think a lot of other people are going to see this, and I think they’re going to start to changing the way they build these arenas.”

And it required an enormous investment, from UFC staff like production executives Chris Kartzmark, Zach Candito, and Tucker Greene, but also outside partners like Valerie Bush and their production Antigravity Academy.

But will the UFC fight be a one-off? It might be, though not necessarily by choice. White notes that the UFC has an exclusive deal with MGM to host events at its T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Sphere event happened because UFC had a dustup (or as White calls it, a “huge beef”) with MGM, which gave the Sept. 14 date away to a boxing match, ultimately leading to an agreement that would allow the UFC to host its event at the Sphere.

“The answer to your question is, right now, this is a one and done. We have a deal with MGM, so I have to go back to T-Mobile and do that,” White says. “But who knows. This was never supposed to happen this year. This wasn’t on our books. This was never planned. But I guarantee you this, if some new technology pops up, I guarantee you I will be first.”

 

[Th3 Gr38 1]

An empty sphere. Symbolic of the decline of the UFC under Endeavor.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Wow, that sounds awful

 

[franquito]

No way they're topping the all-time classic 90 sec short film interstitial:

 

[GrantB13]

Good god this is seriously not a big deal. "Oh my god it's a big screen this is HISTORIC!!!!". It's a shit card for such an expensive event. This will be insignificant or more likely irrelevant in the history of anything.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

They should loop this in the sphere. Would be epic. Also fits the Hispanic theme

 

[TRYHARD 2001]

No way they're topping the all-time classic 90 sec short film interstitial:

I've always wondered how Mask would have evolved if he hadn't died so young. Like, would he still be a 90's weirdo gimmick like Guy Fieri or would he have switched things up and gone truly corporate?

 

[GiganticMeat]

I mean honestly it sounds kind of cool but they done goofed doing all this for a fight night+ level card

 

[TITS]

 

[svmr_db]

Imagine the look on Dana's face if the Mexicans go 0 for 9 on this card.

 

[StonedLemur]

If it lands it's gonna be huge, but if it fails even 10% it will have feces thrown at it from the peanut gallery.

Hell there's already a little poo on the walls in here lol

 

[Shaolin Alan]

Throw Power Slap on the screen & Dana White's Fuck it Friday YouTube clips and you've got some real mid-fight entertainment!!

 

[RiseAboveHat]

Sounds fucking stupid

Give me the Thunderdome, I wanna see some Sherbros doing their best "Just Bleed" impressions during the fight

 

[svmr_db]

Throw some Power Slap on the screen & some of Dana White's Fuck it Friday YouTube clips and you've got some real mid-fight entertainment!!

Could also have some immersive 3D oil splash around The Sphere and shine up Dana's bald head

 

[Streeter]

Did Dana make 306 a terrible card for Noche or a subtle jab at the Saudis ?

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Couldn’t they have spent a fraction of the 16 million or whatever on more elite fighters?

 

[Horiguchi'sEar]

No way they're topping the all-time classic 90 sec short film interstitial:

Lol, greatest american intro ever

 

[svmr_db]

Did Dana make 306 a terrible card for Noche or a subtle jab at the Saudis ?

Couldn’t they have spent a fraction of the 16 million or whatever on more elite fighters?

The card was always going to be Mexican centric & they wanted a theme to tie the event together. The Saudis didn't even get involved until later in the development stage, they weren't there in the beginning. This was never going to be built as a UFC 300 level card. Factoring in that every fight outside the main event has a Mexican fighter I think they did about as well as they could've done considering that.

 

[nonoob]

Heard Tito was going. He'll wear a flowery shirt adorned with 10 Leis to honor Mexico.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Did Dana make 306 a terrible card for Noche or a subtle jab at the Saudis ?

Dana would never dare cross his master, His Excellency Crown Prince Turki Alalshikh!