• by Tanya Gazdik , February 13, 2024

The Super Bowl wasn’t the only place advertisers could spend their dollars on Sunday. 

Move over, Times Square. The Las Vegas Sphere, known as the home for an ongoing U2 residency, has become the hottest non-billboard outdoor advertising venue in the country, if not the world. 

“Las Vegas' newest marvel is more than just a venue; it's a technological behemoth pushing the boundaries of entertainment, with a capacity of 18,600 people and a 16K resolution wraparound interior LED screen,” according to theDetroit Free Press. 

The $2.3 billion venue's construction began in 2019 and opened Sept. 29. The Sphere is just off the Las Vegas Strip and east of the Venetian resort, spanning approximately 18 acres.

AB InBev, Adidas, FedEx, Lowe’s, Nike, Paramount and Verizon all ran ads on the Las Vegas Sphere throughout Super Bowl LVIII week, including on game day, according to CampaignUS.

“Pepsi, which recently announced a partnership with Sphere, promoted its Wild Cherry flavor ahead of the Super Bowl, showcasing the can and ‘filling’ the orb with the drink,” according to Marketing Brew. “The brand also worked with magician and influencer Zach King to create a video that plays up the fantastical and makes it look like King is drinking Pepsi directly from Sphere, which CMO Todd Kaplan said has been ‘going viral and getting a ton of views’—25 million on TikTok as of this writing—since it was posted.”

Other brands which used the unorthodox surface were  mayo brand Hellmann’s with “Mayo Cat” depicting the cat that starred in the brand’s Super Bowl ad walking across the orb and wearing a football helmet. The Instagram post of the ad has been viewed more than 57,000 times. 

Throughout the Super Bowl game, content on the exosphere ran live and in response to action on the field, according to Reuters. 

After the game, the Sphere lit up the desert with a new set of graphics celebrating the back-to-back champs and their Super Bowl MVP quarterback.

“The Las Vegas Sphere has easily been the MVP of Super Bowl week this year,” according toUSA Today. 

The technology that brings the 3D ball to life creates a bridge between theatrical performance and virtual reality, according to CNET, which recently got a behind-the-scenes look at how it achieves a VR-like experience without headsets. 

The Sphere was in the news before the Super Bowl when a man was arrested for climbing it in an anti-abortion publicity stunt, according toThe Washington Post. 

Maison Des Champs, 24, was arrested and charged with destroying a property of a worth greater than $5,000 and conspiracy to destroy private property, according to online jail records.