The Sphere, the most anticipated new concert venue in decades, will open on Sept. 29 in Las Vegas with the first of 25 concerts by U2. Its debut is of keen interest not only to fans of the city and band, but also to shareholders of Sphere Entertainment, the arena’s owner.
If music fans are impressed with the concert experience, the stock could move higher on expectations that the venue will attract other music groups. Success in Las Vegas also would enable the company to license the development of Spheres around the world, starting with London, where Sphere already controls land.
All three businesses once were housed together, but the Dolans separated and reshuffled them in a series of transactions in recent years. “The ‘Dolan discount’ is alive and well,” says Jon Boyar, a principal at the Boyar Value Group, referring to the discounted value of Dolan-controlled companies due to the perception that the family will put control over boosting shareholder value.Sphere Entertainment is the most speculative Dolan company.
“A future global network of Spheres would allow artists to actually ‘tour’ the shows they create for Vegas and create further cost leverage for original content,” wrote Brandon Ross, a LightShed Partners analyst who is bullish on the stock.