A smaller version of the Sphere in Las Vegas, an immersive, bubble-shaped entertainment venue, is in the works for National Harbor in Maryland, state and county leaders and the company behind the Sphere announced over the weekend.
The new venture in Maryland would have 6,000 seats, LED displays and special effects, similar to the larger Sphere in Nevada, an 18,600-seat spectacle that has loomed over the Las Vegas Strip since its opening in 2023. There are also plans to develop and build a smaller Sphere in Abu Dhabi.
“Our focus has always been on creating a global network of Spheres across forward-looking cities,” James L. Dolan, the chairman and chief executive of Sphere Entertainment, the company that owns the Sphere, said in a statement released on Sunday and by Gov. Wes Moore’s office on Monday.
In 2024, proposals for a Sphere in London were withdrawn, months after the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, refused the planning application, saying it would have caused “unacceptable harm” to residents. Opponents had expressed concern about traffic and having to install blackout blinds.
In their joint statement, Maryland leaders and the Sphere’s private backers said the venue would be a new landmark in Maryland and would bolster the economy from its home in the National Harbor, a 350-acre development of businesses, retail shops and convention spaces along the Potomac River.
The development, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, already draws up to 15 million visitors each year. The Sphere would be “one of the largest economic development projects in Prince George’s County history,” Mr. Moore said.
The project is expected to create 2,500 jobs during construction and 4,750 jobs once it starts operating, and generate “millions in additional revenue for the county and state,” the statement said.
It would tap into both public and private funding, including about $200 million in state, local and private incentives.
The statement gave no time frame for the start and projected completion of the Sphere.
The Maryland General Assembly will hold public hearings on the 2027 fiscal year budget, which includes a $10 million operating grant for the Sphere, Ammar Moussa, a spokesman for Mr. Moore, said in an email on Monday.
There will also be public hearings to advance a county proposal to use TIF proceeds, he said, referring to a public financing method, such as bonds, for proposed development projects that will create additional tax revenues. State- and county-level permits and zoning requirements would be subject to public review and notification processes, he said.
Aisha Braveboy, the executive of Prince George’s County, said in an interview with NBC News on Sunday that council members would meet to discuss financing and tax incentives, and that state laws needed to be changed. “I think that this will make its way through the General Assembly, as well as the County Council, without a hitch,” she said.
Christine Hauser is a Times reporter who writes breaking news stories, features and explainers.
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