U2 To Make Announcement About Vegas’ MSG Sphere During Super Bowl Sunday  

U2 fans have a special reason to watch the big game this weekend. A message sent out from Full Coverage Communications on Friday promises “Something is coming … Tune In For A Special Ad This Super Bowl Sunday to See More,” along with an image of Las Vegas’ state-of-the-art MSG Sphere displaying a baby’s face and a link to the website www.U2xSPHERE.com. 

As the Las Vegas Review Journal points out, the image could very well be a reference to the Irish rock band’s seventh studio album, 1991’s Achtung Baby.

During an interview in November with Irish media personality Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1, Bono said that while he couldn’t officially announce any Vegas plans yet, if it happens “it will center around Achtung Baby,” according to The Music Universe. And in January Bono took part in the SmartLess podcast and acknowledged that plans were in the works for U2 to play MSG Sphere. 

Madison Square Garden Entertainment confirmed in its quarterly report released Feb. 9 that the 17,500-capacity spherical venue is set to open in Sin City in September. 

“Our fiscal second quarter results reflect ongoing operating momentum across our portfolio of live experiences,” MSG Entertainment CEO James L. Dolan said. ”With our proposed spin-off expected to be completed by the end of March, and the anticipated opening of MSG Sphere in Las Vegas in September, we remain confident that the Company is well-positioned to drive long-term shareholder value.”

MSG Sphere London is in the planning process. A representative for MSG said the planning process for the London venue is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, with construction to follow.

The initial details about the futuristic venues were first unveiled during simultaneous presentations in February 2018, with Dolan breaking the news to an invited crowd at new York’s Radio City Music Hall and Irving Azoff, chairman and CEO of The Azoff Company and co-founder of OVG Group (Pollstar‘s parent company), presenting the news at the 2018 Pollstar Live! conference in Beverly Hills, California. 

U2 signed with Irving and Jeffrey Azoff at Full Stop Management, following a decade of working with Guy Oseary, according to multiple reports in October.  Full Stop Management was founded in 2015 by Jeffrey Azoff, Irving Azoff and Brandon Creed.

In November 2019, Pollstar named U2 the top touring artist of the decade. At the time of publication, U2 had grossed $1.038 billion and sold 9,300,500 tickets on 255 shows – not counting the full “Joshua Tree 2019” run that hadn’t wrapped yet. The band hasn’t toured since, though Bono did hit the road in November in celebration of the release of his memoir, “Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.”