The colours yellow, red and blue will be banned from the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas to avoid distracting drivers during the F1 weekend. It was first reported by Speedcafe.com.
The Sphere will be working during on-track sessions, and it has been agreed that particular colours won’t be displayed, as drivers could misinterpret and get confused by them.
The structure’s outside surface, known as the Exosphere, is the largest LED screen in the world.
Joel Fisher, who, as the executive vice president of marquee events and operations for MSG Entertainment, is responsible for the deal between the Sphere and the F1 event, is adamant that the Sphere won’t cause any issues.
“It’s all safe,” he told Motorsport Network. “Obviously, we’re going to comply with the FIA’s requirements and make sure.
“They’ve come here at night and tested different colours and different things on there. And we know what we shouldn’t show. So we have a show runner to do all that.”
Asked what will be displayed, he said: “There’s going to be some live footage, there’s helmets, there’s driver cards, there’s ads, there’s all those types of things, and some other surprises.”
Formula 1 wanted to include the sphere as part of the circuit’s backdrop and has sold advertising slots as part of event promotional packages to regain some of its investment.
F1 has rented the Sphere and its surrounding vicinity for the weekend, forcing the U2 band to pause its residency of Las Vegas’s newest structure until December 1
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei said that the Sphere will be utilised by Formula 1 more often in the future.
“We have a long-term relationship with the Sphere, and I think we will have more programming in place,” he said.
“Partly because we didn’t know if the Sphere would be done, and partly we were hustling to get ourselves done, that combination made it hard to programme for this year. But I think in future years, we’ll have a lot more going on.”
This weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix will be F1’s first visit to the city since 1982 and the start of a 10-year agreement.
Photo credit: F1/Sphere Entertainment/Las Vegas GP
