Sphere loses nearly $100m as chief financial officer quits

The Sphere has reported an operating loss of $98.4m for the three months ended 30 September.

The company has also parted ways with its chief financial officer (CFO) Gautam Ranji.

The loss has been widely reported by media outlets, including the Las Vegas Sun.

A report in the New York Post claimed that Ranji left as a result of “yelling and screaming” by boss James Dolan in the week prior to the release of the earnings report.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Sphere Entertainment Co said its CFO’s departure was “not a result of any disagreement with the company’s independent auditors or any member of management or any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or internal controls”.

The Sphere cost $2.3 billion to build and has garnered huge attention, with an initial 25-show residency by supergroup U2 being extended by a further 12 dates. The venue has been showing DOOH advertising on its Exosphere external LED screen – the largest in the world – since 4 July. However, the venue itself only launched with the U2 residency on 29 September, one day before the close of the financial quarter in which it lost $98.4m.

Revenue for the first quarter was reported to be $4.1m from events and $2.6m from suite licensing and advertising on the Sphere’s Exosphere external screen.

Meanwhile, the Sphere is expected to announce two further artist residencies in the second half of its financial year.

Writing in Axios, financial commentator Felix Salmon warned that the shelf life of expensive and technologically innovative ticketed experiences can be quite short, as a flurry of Van Gogh immersive digital art shows appears to have already petered out.

Story structure was particularly important to sustaining a sense of immersion in experiences, he added, citing the work of Claremont Graduate University professor, Paul Zak, an expert on immersive customer and entertainment experiences.