Most investors are chasing the same artificial intelligence (AI) trade right now.
Investing in AI winners has worked incredibly well for us, as Disruption Investor and Disruption_X members know well.
AI is the biggest megatrend of our lifetimes. I expect AI stocks to keep rising in 2026.
But there’s another side to the AI boom most investors are missing…
Think about how much time we spend on screens. I spend the majority of my waking hours staring at a screen!
Now imagine what happens when AI supercharges the internet with custom-tailored movies and digital worlds.
Venture capitalist Josh Wolfe likes to say, “What’s scarce is valuable.”
In an AI-dominated world, experiences that pull people away from screens become ultra valuable.
I’m talking about live events. Concerts. Sports. Immersive entertainment.
Betting on the other side of AI disruption is a highly underrated opportunity.
As a percentage of the US economy, live-event spending has doubled since 1990:
Source: Eventbrite
Today the industry generates roughly $100 billion per year.
I was surprised by how small this is. But the trend is what matters, and the trend is UP.
The more digital our world becomes, the more people crave shared physical experiences.
The live industry is breaking records year after year.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour generated more than $2 billion in ticket sales. It was the highest-grossing concert tour in history.
Broadway just recorded its highest-grossing season ever.
The NFL drew nearly 19 million fans to games in the 2024–2025 season, and it’s enjoying the highest average attendance in its history.
Forget the pyramids. Forget the Colosseum. The first wonder of the digital age sits in the Nevada desert.
It’s called the Las Vegas Sphere.
Standing 350 feet tall and 500 feet wide, this giant orb is wrapped in 1.2 million hockey-puck-sized LED lights. From the outside, it looks like a glowing planet dropped in the middle of Las Vegas.
From the inside, it’s the most immersive entertainment venue ever built:
Source: Yahoo
The interior screen wraps around the entire audience. Sound moves through the room like a physical object. The visuals make you feel like you’re standing inside the movie itself.
During U2’s residency, the walls of the Sphere transformed into towering desert cliffs and swirling galaxies that seemed to stretch miles above the audience. The band looked almost small against the scale of it.
U2 performed 40 shows during the Sphere’s opening residency, drawing more than 650,000 fans and selling out nearly every night.
When UFC sold out its event at the Sphere, it drew around 16,000 fans, showing the Sphere can fill up just as easily for sports as it does for concerts. Between fights, the Sphere transformed the arena entirely.
One fight unfolded against towering Mayan temples. Then the next was inside a roaring volcanic landscape or a neon-lit desert.
When the Sphere was announced, many people thought it was just another Vegas vanity project.
But the numbers tell a very different story.
Sphere has welcomed 1.3 million visitors in its first year of operation—despite hosting only a limited number of shows.
The company behind it, Sphere Entertainment Co. (SPHR) has generated over $1 billion in revenue over the past year.
The immersive documentary “Postcard from Earth” has generated about $400 million in revenue alone.
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A new Sphere version of “The Wizard of Oz” has sold roughly $300 million in tickets.
Demand for the upcoming Metallica residency has been so strong, they had to extend to 24 shows from the original eight.
These aren’t traditional concerts or movies. They’re entirely new entertainment formats that cannot exist anywhere else.
Especially not on a screen on your phone.
There’s one under development here in my new home in Abu Dhabi.
There are also plans for a London Sphere.
If those projects succeed, the company could eventually build a global network of Sphere venues.
Think of it like the IMAX of live entertainment—except much bigger, much more unique, and more profitable.
Each new Sphere becomes a destination on its own. Artists can design shows specifically for the venue. Films can be produced exclusively for the format. Sporting leagues can stage events that feel impossible anywhere else.
That creates a powerful ecosystem where the venue itself becomes the main attraction.
The stock has since tripled in price.
And the story is still just getting started.
The first Sphere proved the concept works. The next phase is scaling it.
If Sphere becomes the global standard for immersive live entertainment, today’s valuation could end up looking very small.
I still think SPHR is a buy today.
Stephen McBride
Chief Analyst, RiskHedge
PS: The “other side” of the AI boom is something we’re watching closely in Disruption Investor. While everyone focuses on the obvious winners, we’re building positions in the businesses quietly benefitting from this megatrend behind the scenes.
If you want to make sure you’re covering every angle of the AI trade, you can learn more about joining us in Disruption Investor here.