The reimagined, immersive version of The Wizard of Oz show at the Sphere in Las Vegas has sold more than 1.5 million tickets, Sphere Entertainment said Tuesday morning. The show, which opened Aug. 28, has already generated nearly $200 million in ticket sales.
Concerts generate most of the headlines for the Sphere since the $2.3 billion venue opened in September 2023. U2, Dead & Company and The Eagles all had extended residences. Flashy advertising on the 580,000 square foot “Exosphere” is also buzzy, but the bulk of the business is driven by the Sphere Experience, with The Wizard of Oz the latest show to debut.
The Sphere Experience generated an estimated $333 million in revenue last year, according to J.P. Morgan. It was nearly double the $188 million tallied from concerts and other events. Advertising and sponsorship revenue was $95 million.
The Wizard of Oz replaced Postcard from Earth, which had been the primary Sphere Experience since the venue debut. The new version cuts roughly 30 minutes from the 1939 original, and the 4D immersive elements utilize 750-horsepower fans for the wind effects during the tornado scenes.
Sphere licensed the rights to the movie from Warner Bros. Discovery, spending nearly $100 million to adapt the original. WBD CEO David Zaslav and Sphere CEO James Dolan have “two-second” cameos in the movie.
Dolan’s vision for the Sphere was always to use Sphere Entertainment’s IP for multiple venues around the world. Last year, the company said it would open a second Sphere in the United Arab Emirates in conjunction with the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi. DCT Abu Dhabi is funding construction and will pay Sphere annual fees for “creative and artistic content.”
The next Sphere Experience, From the Edge, is from the producers of Free Solo and will debut in 2026, but the The Wizard of Oz is not going anywhere, with tickets currently on sale through the end of 2026.
“Ultimately, we’ll run The Wizard of Oz forever,” Dolan said on Sphere’s August earnings call. “It’s hard for me to imagine a better product than Wizard of Oz.”
