Inside Look at How Sphere, NHL Collaborated To Make the 2024 NHL Draft a Must-See Event Sphere is a blank canvas 45 billion times bigger than any other you have ever worked with' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, June 28, 2024 - 8:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
At the 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft tonight, all eyes will be on the San Jose Sharks when they make the first pick. But there will also be plenty of eyes on the venue hosting the event: Sphere, which, in less than a year, has become an icon on the Las Vegas skyline from the outside and a next-generation concert venue on the inside. For the first time ever, the venue will host an event that is truly unscripted and will require content viewed from both the inside and the outside of Sphere to pivot in a moment's notice.
It's this blank canvas that happens to be 45 billion times bigger than any other blank canvas you have ever worked with, says Steve Mayer, chief content officer/senior EVP, NHL.
The 2024 NHL Draft will be the first event broadcast live from the Sphere in Las Vegas.
The NHL Draft will mark several firsts for Sphere, including being the first live telecast from inside Sphere and the first time that content on the interior display plane will be optimized for both the fans in the venue and the viewing audience at home.
We're going to have some very cool creative elements on the outside of the Sphere, notes Mayer. We're taking advantage of the whole place, every inch of it.
This is also the first event in which Sphere Studios, the immersive-content studio dedicated to creating multi-sensory entertainment experiences exclusively for the venue, led the design and creation of content for both the interior display plane and the Exosphere. The team worked closely with the NHL design team and creative-services department to create custom content for both the interior display - the world's highest-resolution LED screen - and the venue's exterior - the world's largest LED screen.
We started to visualize what we thought it could look like and then educated the Sphere Studios team as they had to learn the beats of a live Draft, says Mayer. We gave them sort of a blueprint of things, and then we started to mesh creatively and see where we could go. It has been an incredibly collaborative process. We've been out to the Minisphere [the facility in Burbank, CA, where elements can be developed] five or six times to look at the content and see what it will look like in the environment.
The graphics content is arranged in layers and graphics are changed out independent of background depending on the featured segment and featured team. There are a number of backgrounds and animations being used throughout the show and the graphics producer coordinates the background with featured foreground graphic content. Ross XPression is used by the graphics and show producers to coordinate the flow and preloaded graphics into the show.
The content displayed on the interior display has been optimized for the television audience as well as for fans in the venue. That content includes custom graphics for all 32 NHL teams, key statistical highlights and notable former picks for each club, and an immersive selection board while each team is on the clock.
One of the challenges is that the canvas is not designed for an unscripted event. The entire production for shows by musical acts U2, Phish, and Dead and Company are locked down by showtime. But an NHL Draft? No one knows who will be picked next or whether there will be last-second trades or even picks swapped. We've got to react to things like a trade or pick swap and then change the environment [both inside and out], Mayer says.
The project began while Sphere was still under construction. Mayer visited first when it was just a shell, a second time about a month out from opening, and on opening night last October, when U2 inaugurated its residency.
It was something unique, something different, Mayer says. That's what gets my blood going, and so I was fascinated. I came back from opening night and said, We've got to do an event there.' It felt like we could pull off the Draft there; we immediately started focusing on it. The commissioner liked the idea. He has a great relationship with [Executive Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Sphere Entertainment] Jim Dolan, and we were able to work out a working agreement very quickly.
The NHL has also worked with Germany-based augmented-reality-content creator Gravity. They've been incredible as well, just adding to some of the creative elements, says Mayer. In this environment, you need the visuals but also the audio and even the haptics in the seat. There are just so many different things that you are creating.
In another groundbreaking first for Sphere, footage from the live television broadcast will be incorporated into custom graphics and displayed on the Exosphere throughout the event. The Exosphere moments, specific to Round 1 tonight, will mark a new level of engagement for fans in Las Vegas and around the world.
We are going to have elements on the outside of the Sphere that will just blow people away, Mayer says. When a pick is made, you're going to see it on the outside of the Sphere.
One of the fascinating visual experiences inside the Sphere is the ability to force the perspective on the screen with video elements creating the illusion that the curved screen has depth, even corners: it appears to transform from a dome to a square room or even seems to have a roof hundreds of feet tall.
Changing the environment of the room is definitely something that was sparked when we saw the other shows, says Mayer. There'll be elements during the night when we do that, transporting people to somewhere else.
During the D
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...
21/10/2025
Broadcast Booms with 20% Uptick vs. August, Achieving Largest Monthly
Increase ...
21/10/2025
During September, streaming's share of TV viewing in Mexico settled at 24.5%, a marginal shift of -0.5 share points from the previous month.
Disclaimer: YU...
21/10/2025
RENNES, France BBright and GlobalM have conducted a technical trial validating Ultra HD interoperability across the entire contribution chain in the cloud, achi...
21/10/2025
Kokusai Denki Electric America will mark the U.S. debut of a new 4K camera at the 2025 NAB New York, Oct. 22-23. Now available, the Z-HD6500-S1 UHD/HD productio...
21/10/2025
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, will showcase its entire NEXTGEN TV ...
21/10/2025
Radio Azzurra FM, longest-running radio station in the province of Novara, northwest Italy, has invested in an DHD SX2 audio routing and mixing console for inte...
21/10/2025
Globecast, the leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, has announced the appointment of G Morgan as Executive Vice President of...
Inside Look at How Sphere, NHL Collaborated To Make the 2024 NHL Draft a Must-See Event Sphere is a blank canvas 45 billion times bigger than any other you have ever worked with' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
