The developers behind the proposed MSG Sphere in London have withdrawn plans for the project. In a letter to the UK government’s Planning Inspectorate, developers Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) said that the scheme had become “merely a political football between rival parties.”

Plans for the Sphere first emerged in 2018, with planning permission filed in March 2019. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan was originally supportive of the scheme upon its announcement, but a combination of negative feedback in planning officer reports and backlash from locals saw Khan refuse the project permission in November 2023.

The saga continued in December when the UK’s Housing Secretary, Michael Gove, asked for the plans to be personally reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate, which falls under his department. With both a UK-wide general election and London mayoral election set to take place in the country later this year, the project was set to become a major campaign issue between Gove’s ruling Conservative Party and Khan’s opposition Labour Party.

In their letter to the Planning Inspectorate, seen by PA Media, MSG advised of their withdrawal of the application and declined to participate in the ongoing review process. As reported by The Guardian, a company spokesperson said it would instead work with “forward-thinking cities around the world” who were “serious” about the project’s delivery.

“After spending millions of pounds acquiring our site in Stratford and collaboratively engaging in a five-year planning process with numerous governmental bodies, including the local planning authority who approved our plans following careful review, we cannot continue to participate in a process that is merely a political football between rival parties,” the letter reads.

London is one of several cities to see proposals inspired by the recently opened Sphere in Las Vegas. In December, we reported that South Korea was moving closer to developing its own version of the scheme, while in November, the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles was floated as a potential site for a miniature display reminiscent of its Vegas counterpart.