MSG withdraws plans for Las Vegas-style London sphere
The American company said the process was "merely a political football between rival parties"
Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) has officially withdrawn its plans for a Las Vegas-style sphere in London.
In March 2019, the American entertainment company behind Sphere - the immersive, 360 ft tall entertainment venue at the Venetian in Las Vegas - announced plans for a similar, 300 ft tall Sphere in Stratford, East London. The proposed venue would have been capable of hosting events to a capacity of 23,000 people.
Now, two months on from London mayor Sadiq Khan's rejection of the plans due to how light pollution and energy usage brought on by the screen-covered, domed structure "would result in an unacceptable negative impact on local residents," MSG have formally withdrawn their plans. Designed to have the world's largest LED screen, the venue was planned to be used primarily for music, as well as award ceremonies, corporate events and product launches.
Following the ruling by Khan, the planning application moved on to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), for the final decision. However, yesterday - 9th January - MSG announced that it could not continue to participate in a process that it referred to as "merely a political football between rival parties."
Included in a report by the Guardian, MSG wrote a letter to the Planning Inspectorate saying that it was “extremely disappointing” that Londoners would “not benefit from the Sphere’s groundbreaking technology and the thousands of well-paying jobs it would have created”.
Sphere Entertainment, a sister firm to MSG, revealed that it had written to Gove advising him of the company’s decision to withdraw its application and to decline to participate in the call-in process.
According to the Guardian's report, MSG’s letter to the Planning Inspectorate said: “On behalf of both Stratford Garden Development Limited and Sphere Entertainment, I write to confirm that we are officially withdrawing our application from the Planning Inspectorate process."
A report from Sky News says that the MSG is now expected to pursue a sale of the land on the East London site, which was used as a coach park during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
