LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The NHL Draft will soon make the Entertainment Capital the hockey capital of the world.
With a week to go before the Sphere hosts its first sports event and first televised event ever, we take a look at how this draft will be one of a kind.
"The 2024 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held at Sphere Las Vegas," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on ESPN in early May. "The draft will utilize Sphere’s cutting edge technologies. This will truly be a unique draft unlike any other."
After debuting as a premier visual scenery prop in last November's inaugural F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, the Sphere is pulling out all the stops for the draft.
While teams make selections and prospects have their dreams come true in the upstairs 20,000-seat theater, the outdoor exosphere will broadcast the picks. Spectators on the Strip will have a view of the action that is being broadcast on ESPN+.
"The sphere has such unique ability to present content unlike really any venue in the world," Vegas Golden Knights president Kerry Bubolz told Channel 13. "So that’s what’s really exciting. These young players, it’s going to be bigger than life when they get their name called and they show all their stats and they show all their highlights."
"It really will be special for those young players but it’ll also be a great presentation for NHL fans around the globe," Bubolz said.
Vegas' first NHL Draft adds another milestone event to the city's rich hockey history after having the Knights for only seven years.
“When you think about all the great events from a league level that have happened here in Las Vegas, we had the all-star game, we’ve had two Stanley Cups, and now we get the opportunity to host the NHL Draft," Bubolz said. "You get to see the future of the NHL because these are the players that will be drafted by the other 31 NHL teams plus our organization.
"There’s still plenty of seats available," Bubolz added. "So if you want to go and see these young players, see their highlights, and see them in their big moment, next Friday and Saturday is really the time to do that.”
The first round of the NHL Draft kicks off on Friday, June 28 while rounds 2-7 are conducted from the Sphere through Saturday starting in the morning.