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James Dolan is just one of the many billionaires who have a reputation for being a megalomaniac, and that reality has been manifested in a number of ways over the years. However, the man who owns the Knicks and The Sphere may have outdone himself after he was digitally inserted into the version of The Wizard of Oz that’s being shown at his futuristic venue in Sin City.
It’s pretty hard to join the Tres Commas Club without being a bit of a control freak, and James Dolan has certainly checked that box while overseeing a business portfolio that includes Madison Square Garden, the NBA and NHL franchises that call it home, the television network that broadcasts most of their games, and The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Dolan is infamous for ruling over his domain with an iron fist.
He’s gone to great lengths to control the narrative surrounding the Knicks and the Rangers by making life difficult for reporters who want to speak with players and banning those who are overly critical from attending games at MSG, and he garnered plenty of attention for using facial-recognition technology to prevent lawyers working for a firm that sued his holding company from entering the arena.
Oh, he’s also paid untold amounts of money to prop up his band, JD & the Straight Shot, and has repeatedly leveraged his influence to get notable musical acts, including The Eagles, ZZ Top, and The Allman Brothers, to let the group he leads serve as an opener at their shows.
Dolan already had a lot on his plate before The Sphere opened for business, and you probably won’t be shocked to learn he’s also using that venture to boost his ego.
James Dolan (and David Zaslav) were digitally inserted into the version of The Wizard of Oz that’s being shown at The Sphere
It’s been close to two years since The Sphere opened for business in Las Vegas when U2 hosted a string of shows that kicked off at the end of September in 2023. Concerts continue to serve as the main attraction, and since then, the cutting-edge venue that cost over $2 billion to construct has welcomed other bands, including Phish, Dead & Company, and the Backstreet Boys.
However, there are other ways to harness the 160,000-square-foot screen that sets The Sphere apart, and earlier this year, we learned it would be used to show a version of The Wizard of Oz that was seemingly subjected to some underwhelming edits in order to be adapted to that particular format.
That “Sphere Experience,” which boasts tickets that start at $114 each, officially debuted on Thursday during a premiere where Dolan somewhat uncharacteristically agreed to speak with members of the media during a walkthrough.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed eagle-eyed viewers who head to The Sphere to watch The Wizard of Oz may be able to spot him and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav in one scene in Munchkinland toward the start of the film, saying:
“I won’t tell you where, it’s only for like two seconds. [They] replaced the faces of two very short, two-second characters in the movie with mine and David. I challenge you to find it.”
That’s some very cool and very normal stuff from James and David.