Originally published to 8 News Now on August 21, 2024.

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The founder of professional wrestling company All Elite Wrestling (AEW) said he has been in conversations about holding an event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

In an interview with Mike Ryan Ruiz Friday on The Dan Le Batard Show, Tony Khan, the founder and co-owner of AEW, was asked about the company’s conversations with Sphere Entertainment Co. regarding the professional wrestling company holding a show at the newest performance venue in Las Vegas.

“Through my management company. Activist Artists Management, like you said, we represent the Grateful Dead, Dead and Co., great artists, have had some conversations about [an AEW show at Sphere], but I think it’s a long, long way away,” Khan said.

Khan, who also holds an executive position for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, said there was a “long line” to get into Sphere. AEW regularly holds its “Double or Nothing” event in Las Vegas, the first of which represented the company’s inaugural pay-per-view event in 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on the Las Vegas Strip.

That long line could have to do with the work required to create new shows at Sphere. Jim Dolan, Sphere CEO and executive chairman, said this month it takes three to six months — “Depends on what you’re trying to achieve.” And Sphere guards the reputation it’s earning for the spectacular.

AEW will host its “All In” event at London’s Wembley Stadium, which holds more than 70,000 wrestling fans. The company recently announced a 2025 All In event at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The home of the Texas Rangers can hold approximately 40,000 individuals. Sphere holds approximately 20,000 people, including floor capacity.

Since Sphere opened in Sept. 2023 for the first performance of U2:UV Achtung Baby, the venue has been the home of Phish, Dead & Company and will soon host The Eagles for a 10-weekend span of shows. Announcements are expected soon about a new headliner, and Sphere is also expected to announce a show to follow “Postcard from Earth.”

On Sept. 14, the venue will see its first sporting event in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 306: Riyadh Season Noche, headlined by a bantamweight fight between champion Sean O’Malley and challenger Merab Dvalishvili.

For his part, Dana White, founder of the UFC, told 8newsnow.com the September event would be the “greatest sporting event ever,” promising that the event would be “jaw-dropping.”

“To say that I’m excited about this is the understatement of all time,” White said.

The TKO Group-owned company may be playing the icebreaker for sports in Sphere, as its sister-company World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE,) will host WrestleMania in the entertainment capital of the world on April 19 and 20 at Allegiant Stadium. No Sphere events have yet been planned around the weeklong festival-like experience, despite much online speculation and rumor that an announcement was imminent.

At a Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority meeting in May, LVCVA officials said televised events surrounding WrestleMania would occur “at an MGM Resorts venue.” Some Las Vegas MGM properties include the T-Mobile Arena, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, and the Michelob ULTRA Arena. Madison Square Garden Entertainment originally founded Sphere, now part of Sphere Entertainment Co.

Whether AEW of WWE holds an event at Sphere first remains to be seen. Still, if social media buzz is any indication, professional wrestling fans are excited to see that genre of entertainment represented at the newest glimmering landmark on the Las Vegas Strip.