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A potential advertising innovation proposed for London in the style of the Las Vegas Sphere will not move forward after Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) withdrew its proposal.
MSG had hoped to build a 21,000-capacity venue in the Stratford area of the city, but that was rejected by Mayor Sadiq Khan late last year. Despite that, Housing Secretary Michael Gove chose to review that rejection, which kept the idea alive.
The proposed venue would have been a similar design to that in Las Vegas, built on an unused 4.7-acre site; however, the Mayor said it would not “constitute good and sustainable design.”
MSG has now written to London’s Planning Inspectorate to withdraw from the process, reports the BBC, which explained that the politics between the Conservative Government and the Labour Party, which Khan is a member of, was not a situation it wished to be a part of.
“After spending millions of pounds acquiring our site in Stratford and collaboratively engaging in a five-year planning process with numerous governmental bodies, including the local planning authority who approved our plans following careful review, we cannot continue to participate in a process that is merely a political football between rival parties,” explained a letter from MSG.
Ben Maher, the former chief commercial officer for Outernet London, another immersive entertainment experience that attracts advertisers in the heart of London, told Adweek that it would have been ideal for tactical advertising from brands in a city that continually hosts global events.
“London is one of the most advanced digital out-of-home markets in the world and is well served in terms of landmark offerings and conventional large format digital out of home. The variety of media owners and environments makes it easy for clients to build reach, which means anything has to stand out which, arguably, the Sphere would,” he continued.
Maher did question whether the negativity associated with the project may have put off some brands, while he also wondered whether it had much to offer beyond social media posts to showcase the ambitious scale of the visuals it could host.
Offering another advertiser perspective, Grace Page Fozzati, founding partner of The Building Blocks and former director of emerging technology for VMLY&R, said that it was potentially a missed opportunity for the U.K. business sector.
“We could do with a place where ads go that in and of itself makes a hero out of the ad. We lack that and anything that can give brand managers a fresh and exciting canvas to be more creative than another 48 sheet is great in my book,” said Fozzati.
