UFC 306 at The Sphere: MSG Entertainment's Joel Fisher Goes Inside The Sphere's First Live Sporting Event With Noche UFC By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, September 12, 2024 - 3:24 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
On Saturday night, a new era in live sports will dawn with the first ever live sporting event to be hosted at The Sphere in Las Vegas. UFC 306 at Riyadh Season Noche UFC is being dubbed as a once-in-a-lifetime immersive sporting event that will utilize Sphere's next-gen tech to create an entirely different kind of live event experience. Following more than a year of planning and collaboration between the UFC and the venue's owner, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Saturday night's event will finally bring the power of The Sphere to live sports.
Joel Fisher, EVP, Marquee Events and Operations, Madison Square Garden Entertainment
Dana White, who says the event cost $20 million to produce, calls UFC 306 at Riyadh Season Noche UFC a love letter' to Mexico and a tribute to the Mexican people for their contributions to combat sports. In celebration of Mexican Independence Day, UFC has created a series of films that will take over the 160,000 sq. ft. and 16K x 16K resolution interior display plane during the event. In addition to the world's highest resolution LED display and advanced concert-grade audio system, fans inside the Sphere will be able to genuinely feel the action thanks to the venue's haptic seats, which provide force feedback based on the action in the Octagon. In addition, the Exosphere will be utilized throughout the night with key art and highlights to bring fans closer to the event, while in-house stats and information feeds will showcase real-time stats and fighter information integrated onto the interior display plane of Sphere.
In anticipation of this historic production, SVG sat down with Joel Fisher, EVP, Marquee Events and Operations, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, to discuss how UFC came to be the first live sport to take place in The Sphere, his company's collaborative relationship with White and the UFC, what fans can expect inside - and outside - the venue on Saturday night, the key differences between presenting a U2 concert experience and live sporting event at The Sphere, and what other sports he expects to welcome to the venue in the future.
Can you tell me how the initial idea for this event came about?
We [at Madison Square Garden] have a long history as I think with the UFC, including helping them get sanctioned for the first event here in New York with UFC 205. We invited Dana to see U2 at The Sphere and he was absolutely blown away. He called me the next day to say UFC wanted to be the first live sporting event in The Sphere. That was the beginning of months of conversations and planning.
And once the event was finalized, what did the early planning stages look like?
We all agreed that if we were going to do this and do it right, we needed to plan well in advance and all have a unified vision of what this was going to look like. So about a year ago, I met with Craig Borsari [Chief Content Officer and Executive Producer] and Pete Dropick [EVP, Event Development & Operations] during a Top Rank boxing event here at the Garden and we worked closely together from that point forward to ensure that everything was perfect.
The sphere really was a vision directly from our chairman and CEO Jim Dolan. And he just really wanted to create this new medium that disrupted the traditional venue model and shook up an industry that hasn't been innovated in a long time. So to be able to deliver the first live sporting event and broadcast it to the world - there will be as many as a billion people watching - is very exciting for both us and UFC.
Can you take me inside what the experience will look like for fans on Saturday night?
The experience starts before you've even entered [the venue] because we have the exosphere, which creates a one-of-a-kind visual experience. Then once you get into the building, fans will be able to explore and interact with immersive technology experiences in the Atrium. The UFC is taking over the entire atrium and decorating it around the theme of Mexican Independence Day. So the second you walk in, you'll feel that you're immersed in this special event, including a mariachi band and a variety of content on the different displays.
And we also have plenty of exciting moment leading up to the fight. On Thursday, we are doing the press conference right outside in one of our parking lots with The Sphere as the background. On Friday, they will do the weigh-in outside in front of the sphere with UFC creative [content] on the exosphere. And UFC is also doing a fan fest starting on Friday that runs through the pre-fight preparations on Saturday.
On fight night, fans are going to experience something that's literally never been seen before in sports. We've worked with UFC on these six films that will be [displayed] on our incredible 16K media plane These interstitials will be seen throughout the night between the fights and will provide a tribute to Mexico and their history and fighting in MMA. So it should be really incredible. I've been fortunate to see a lot of the storyboards and content that they're presenting and it's going to be a genuine spectacle.
Then we also have an audio system that is unlike anything else you've ever heard, as well as haptic seats so that [fans] will actually feel it when somebody gets hit or hits the canvas. People inside the building are going to get this overall experience that you simply cannot match in a regular venue.
What are the major differences between presenting a live concert or entertainment event at The Sphere and producing a live sporting event? What are the pr
More from Sports Video Group
02/06/2026
Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...
02/06/2026
Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...
02/06/2026
Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...
02/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...
02/06/2026
Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...
02/06/2026
NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...
02/06/2026
Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...
02/06/2026
Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...
02/06/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...
02/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...
02/06/2026
Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...
02/06/2026
The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...
02/06/2026
CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...
02/06/2026
The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...
02/06/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...
02/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
02/06/2026
The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend
Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...
02/06/2026
The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
28/05/2026
Hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee, the ceremony honored winners from athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies...
28/05/2026
Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distributio...
28/05/2026
The 4 Nations Face-Off, an international competition that launched in February 2...
28/05/2026
Soccer is a truly global sport, and, to match the U.S. viewing audience's in...
28/05/2026
The NFL Today, CBS Sports' top-of-the-line NFL studio show, has a storied hi...
28/05/2026
Prime Video is no stranger to innovation, and, within the realm of live streamin...
UFC 306 at The Sphere: MSG Entertainment's Joel Fisher Goes Inside The Sphere's First Live Sporting Event With Noche UFC By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
