California New 'Cosm' Immersive Sports-Watching Dome is Amazing - and Expensive (sfgate.com) 34
"For 75 years Cosm built planetariums," reports a Texas news station, "and then a few years ago realized this technology could take you from the night sky to anywhere under the sun."
So now Los Angeles and Dallas have massive 9,600-square-foot, 8K-resolution screens that one reviewer for SFGate calls "an absolute game-changer" for sports fans. "At its best, Cosm's floor-to-ceiling screen gives anyone with a seat the opportunity to embrace a face full of on-the-field action at such high quality that it can be staggering, almost overwhelming at times — so just be sure to hold on tight, to the handrails and to your wallets."
There's also a bar with a 150-foot band of screens and a rooftop area with mounted TV, but they're "not why anyone has come," SFGate points out. Even the Dome has three distinct floors, though it's the second floor "where full visual immersion happens." The action feels so close, I can almost smell it, and all the focus is pulled to the center of the giant screen. Patrons truly do feel at the absolute heart of the action, with better seats than perhaps they could even pay for at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium. From a sports-viewing standpoint, I can't imagine it gets much better than this... Over the course of just a few minutes, the viewing angle flips from corner looks to right up against the goalkeeper's net, and then it widens out to dead center to catch crisp passes. Some angles put me right in the stands, cheering along with the loyalists at a stadium half a world away...
To be clear, the premium ticket costs are good for recouping Cosm's substantial investment in this gorgeous technological product, which has been in the works for years. The price tag is also likely to be little issue for any Los Angeles fan with money to spend, but the cost really does lay bare the growing division between the haves and have-nots in American sports society... If you paid $20 for a general admission entry that mostly just grants access to the fringes of the action, well ... good luck getting the most out of the Dome... The edges of the massive screen are stretched to comic effect, making the fisheye perspective more disorienting than fun. At the center of the room, it feels like you're absolutely in the meat of the action; at the fringes, you're left to pick at a few digital bones...
[F]or the rest of us, the normal sports fans who like to sway with strangers during the seventh-inning stretch, the ones who want to be able to take their kids to a game without feeling quite so financially wrung out, Cosm is yet another troubling sign of big, expensive things to come. Being a fan of a sports franchise in 2024 is an increasingly costly proposition. Watching your favorite NFL team now requires cable access, as well as multiple streaming services like Amazon Prime... There is no question that Cosm is a unique experience and that it will absolutely have a hand in transforming the modern digital sports-watching landscape, especially for those who want a digital re-creation of the best seat in the house over the camaraderie of a shared, in-person sports experience. The place will be able to charge incredible sums for the Super Bowl or World Series games, and — when at its best, with a prime seat in the middle of the action — the cost will be justifiable for many.
But for the folks at the financial fringes, the ones with the most spirit and often the least to spend, Cosm undoubtedly feels like a widening of the economic chasm that is pulling fans and their favorite teams further apart.
Besides sports events, Cosm's Dome also offers other immersive experiences like Circque du Soleil's "O" and Planetary Collective's "Orbital".
Another Cosm location is planned for Phoenix in 2025.
So now Los Angeles and Dallas have massive 9,600-square-foot, 8K-resolution screens that one reviewer for SFGate calls "an absolute game-changer" for sports fans. "At its best, Cosm's floor-to-ceiling screen gives anyone with a seat the opportunity to embrace a face full of on-the-field action at such high quality that it can be staggering, almost overwhelming at times — so just be sure to hold on tight, to the handrails and to your wallets."
There's also a bar with a 150-foot band of screens and a rooftop area with mounted TV, but they're "not why anyone has come," SFGate points out. Even the Dome has three distinct floors, though it's the second floor "where full visual immersion happens." The action feels so close, I can almost smell it, and all the focus is pulled to the center of the giant screen. Patrons truly do feel at the absolute heart of the action, with better seats than perhaps they could even pay for at Manchester's Old Trafford stadium. From a sports-viewing standpoint, I can't imagine it gets much better than this... Over the course of just a few minutes, the viewing angle flips from corner looks to right up against the goalkeeper's net, and then it widens out to dead center to catch crisp passes. Some angles put me right in the stands, cheering along with the loyalists at a stadium half a world away...
To be clear, the premium ticket costs are good for recouping Cosm's substantial investment in this gorgeous technological product, which has been in the works for years. The price tag is also likely to be little issue for any Los Angeles fan with money to spend, but the cost really does lay bare the growing division between the haves and have-nots in American sports society... If you paid $20 for a general admission entry that mostly just grants access to the fringes of the action, well ... good luck getting the most out of the Dome... The edges of the massive screen are stretched to comic effect, making the fisheye perspective more disorienting than fun. At the center of the room, it feels like you're absolutely in the meat of the action; at the fringes, you're left to pick at a few digital bones...
[F]or the rest of us, the normal sports fans who like to sway with strangers during the seventh-inning stretch, the ones who want to be able to take their kids to a game without feeling quite so financially wrung out, Cosm is yet another troubling sign of big, expensive things to come. Being a fan of a sports franchise in 2024 is an increasingly costly proposition. Watching your favorite NFL team now requires cable access, as well as multiple streaming services like Amazon Prime... There is no question that Cosm is a unique experience and that it will absolutely have a hand in transforming the modern digital sports-watching landscape, especially for those who want a digital re-creation of the best seat in the house over the camaraderie of a shared, in-person sports experience. The place will be able to charge incredible sums for the Super Bowl or World Series games, and — when at its best, with a prime seat in the middle of the action — the cost will be justifiable for many.
But for the folks at the financial fringes, the ones with the most spirit and often the least to spend, Cosm undoubtedly feels like a widening of the economic chasm that is pulling fans and their favorite teams further apart.
Besides sports events, Cosm's Dome also offers other immersive experiences like Circque du Soleil's "O" and Planetary Collective's "Orbital".
Another Cosm location is planned for Phoenix in 2025.
Sounds ... awful? (Score:5, Interesting)
If I wanted to be "immersed", I would go to a game in person.
This sounds like a way to have all the expenses, all the crowds, all the inconvenience of leaving home, and ... still not actually being there?
(Guess I'm not the target audience though.)
Re:Sounds ... awful? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have been to many games in a few sports. Mostly thanks to corporate tickets.
Being at the game in any but the very first few rows is only immersive in terms of feeling like a part of the crowd. When it comes to the game itself, a 19" crt with rabbit ears is a better watch.
This sounds like a better way to experience the game than that granted by 95% of the seats.
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I have been to many games in a few sports. Mostly thanks to corporate tickets.
Being at the game in any but the very first few rows is only immersive in terms of feeling like a part of the crowd. When it comes to the game itself, a 19" crt with rabbit ears is a better watch.
This sounds like a better way to experience the game than that granted by 95% of the seats.
True ... the crowd part is always the part I didn't care for, but I can see how this would appeal to those who do enjoy it.
Must by why they have those big screens at concerts too. So you can "feel like you are there" even though you can't actually see anything without a screen, lol
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Re: Sounds ... awful? (Score:1, Troll)
Re: Sounds ... awful? (Score:2)
Re: Sounds ... awful? (Score:2)
It gets difficult to watch a premier league game in a stadium ⦠when you live 5000 miles away in LA.
It sounds interesting to me at the very least. I wouldnâ(TM)t mind watching an Aussie Rules football game in it.
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It gets difficult to watch a premier league game in a stadium ⦠when you live 5000 miles away in LA.
That's a good point :D
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If they shoot movies in this format, then this dome could also be your next cinema. Sort of like IMAX++. I'll bet they chose sports because they can get the right cameras to the grounds relatively easily (ie. pay some money and get it done) and some fans are practically rabid about seeing games, so there's immediate demand.
Movies are a slower burn because they need shooting in the right way, and despite trying for years. imax has barely made any progress there. I'll bet movies also have less profitability,
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If I wanted to be "immersed", I would go to a game in person.
Disagree. Going to a game is not immersive. Going to a game very much makes you a distant spectator. Even the best seats of a game can't give you immersion of a camera at field level. The only value in going to the game is the atmosphere. If you want to actually see the game properly - watch the broadcast. If you want to immerse yourself - watch the broadcast on an IMAX sized screen.
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If I wanted to be "immersed", I would go to a game in person.
This sounds like a way to have all the expenses, all the crowds, all the inconvenience of leaving home, and ... still not actually being there?
(Guess I'm not the target audience though.)
Being at a game or a concert in person is a far worse experience for viewing the action and for hearing high quality audio. It's not even close. However, being at the game or concert is an experience, an emotional experience, hearing the crowd and feeling like a part of the spectacle. That emotional experience is worth hundreds of dollars, and I've spent that money, but the money is purely for the emotional experience. Aside from the emotional experience, seeing the game at home with a large screen (wit
Main takeaway from that story (Score:5, Insightful)
It's easier to milk sports fan than astronomy fans.
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People don't want to pay for a 40 minute documentary, so dome theatres are closing in many parts of the world. It's sad, because like 8-track cassette, it's simple technology made amazing. Unfortunately, the few places that built a dome theater, didn't go big. The fact there's only one theatre and thus one choice, doesn't help. (Those projector bulbs are very expensive, meaning viewing opportunities have to be limited.)
With sports stadiums filming in 360-degree vision, the personalized experience would
Manchester's Old Trafford stadium (Score:3)
If they want to have the full Old Trafford experience, there has to be a leaky roof so some of the spectators get drenched if it rains. Manchester has a similar climate to Seattle - it rains a lot.
This is nothing like Baltimore's Mr Splash section either, the rain tends to be colder in Manchester.
What puzzles me... (Score:2)
I could see it if there were a segment of the viewing public that was in it fo
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Re: What puzzles me... (Score:3)
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cake and super bowl (Score:2)
Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.
Just discovered meaning of "cheap seats" (Score:2)
The focus on the broad price spectrum to attend an event is, in a word, confusing.
I've gone to baseball games and watched from luxury boxes up high, and seats right down near the base line with wait staff to bring you concessions/beers. I've been to football (US) games and sat near the 50 yard line on the home team side and saw people up in the luxury boxes, and I've seen people sitting courtside at basketball games, with seats so expensive everyone knows the name of every person sitting courtside from the
Re: Just discovered meaning of "cheap seats" (Score:2)
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Most likely the author had a point to make about the good seats vs the bad seats and wrote the article to emphasize that.
I am curious about the business model. TV networks pay bi
Re: Just discovered meaning of "cheap seats" (Score:2)
âoe group booths tend to sell for at least a few hundred dollars apieceâ
The article tries to make the point that this is less than thousands of dollars for ârealâ(TM) outside/ 50 yard line whatever . But honestly part of spending the money is showing off the fact you are there and can spend the money. I dunno if the planetarium gives the buyer that same ego boost. Iâ(TM)m thinking maybe for birthdays and stuff, but week to week a sports bar with a good crowd plus 1 or 2 live gam
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Are we now upset that the rich can afford better things than other people?
Such as Disney parks like Disneyland and Disney World in the US for example? Since they're at capacity every single day, and Disney is a highly profitable machine, mere mortals can't enjoy a day at the park like olden times. In fact many families choose to go into to debt for the experience [archive.today].
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Good news, ticket prices will soon be priced according to how many want to buy the same ticket right-now. (Surge-pricing auction: See, Taylor Swift concert.) That prevents scalping (arbitrage), and gives the money to billionaires, not the arsehole taking advantage of suckers with too much money.
LAN party (Score:2)
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Sounds like a career-change: Probably a good idea, influencers will soon have bigger pay-cheques than journalists.
"The action feels so close, I can almost smell it" (Score:2)
Apparently the reviewer is familiar with and really likes fantasizing about the smell of sweaty balls in a cup.
That's not the selling point that he seems to think it is.