The crowd hold their breath as Leandro Trossard looks to find space on the edge of the area. Going one way and then the other, the anticipation grows further as the Belgian takes aim, before rocketing the ball into the corner to put Arsenal ahead at Sunderland.
All around FourFourTwo the crowd are going mad, but this isnt the away end at the Stadium of Light, nor is it a pub in North London. This is more than 5,000 miles away in Los Angeles.
FFT have joined hundreds of fans who have gathered at 9.30am at Cosm, in Hollywood Park, to watch the Premier League fixture on an 87-foot diameter, 12K+, dome-shaped LED screen. You really feel like youre inside the stadium itself albeit its slightly warmer than the North East and the food is better.
FFT's Guide to Los Angeles
As the Arsenal players celebrate, they seem so close that it almost feels like you could join them yourself, or at least shout something theyll hear. Quickly, though, you sit back down on your leather sofa, pick up your drink and remember youre not actually there.
This isnt like watching football on TV at home having previously seen videos of the gigantic Cosm screen on social media, FFT are now savouring this new shared reality experience for ourselves, and fast realising that it takes witnessing live sport from afar to a completely new level. Its fresh, its new, its immersive. If youve ever slipped on a virtual reality headset, its a feeling akin to that just without the clunky noggin-wear and with friends around you, experiencing the same thing at the same time.
The venue has a number of exclusive camera angles that make it so unique. One is on the halfway line, which makes you feel like thats your seat inside the stadium if you turn to either side, you can even see the people sat next to you inside the ground, 5,000 miles away.
The main difference for this game is that when Brian Brobbey nets the Black Cats stoppage-time equaliser, 95 per cent of the Stadium of Light loses their minds, but only a small pocket of fans celebrate in Los Angeles, amid a sea of disappointed Arsenal supporters.
The other difference is the full menu of food and drinks that can be ordered on an app, and brought straight to your seat while the game is going on.
The brainwave behind this new way of watching sport originated from looking at planetariums, but instead of staring up at a dome-shaped ceiling, the dome was flipped on its side and lit with LEDs, so you can see it during the day without the need for darkness. Cosm was born.
The first time I experienced Cosm, I felt like a three-year-old discovering bubbles for the first time, says Cosm marketing manager Mazen Alawar. I was blown away. Id seen the videos and thought I understood the concept, but its not until you experience it that you really understand what it is.
It was conceived by our chairman Steve Winn, because of his love for planetariums Cosm is the worlds largest planetarium company. Theyre the OG immersive experience, so we started out by taking people to space, and now we take them everywhere including the sidelines of some of the worlds most sought-after football matches and other sporting events.
It was the shared experience of watching sport that Cosm was keen to expand on.
Theres so much investment in individual experiences when it comes to technology and sports watching on an app, streaming on your phone, adds Alawar. But the communal experiences are what make sport special. We looked at how we could transform the stadium and expand on the communal sports experience, which is how we landedon creating Cosm.
We produce the games, and its the same production youd do for virtual reality its a fisheye lens that captures spherically. But we can produce linear TV, too. We have around five cameras on the ground at any event that we show, plus two to three people there overseeing everything.
Premier League and Champions League games are big crowd-pullers, but the Hollywood Park venue has also shown Wrexham games pulling in an A-list crowd, thanks to the Welsh clubs co-owner, Rob McElhenney. Rob came down to watch a Wrexham game and brought the whole cast of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia with him,
Alawar explains filming for the sitcom takes place in both Philadelphia and LA. I had a very surreal moment where I was walking Danny DeVito to the bathroom, getting lectured on camera positions. I had to keep reminding myself Danny was a movie legend and knew what he was talking about!
Cosm itself has become a tourist destination in LA now people seek us out and want to watch a game here. We had Matt Lucas here for an Arsenal game he said hed seen it online and wanted to experience it for himself.
Games involving Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Spurs bring the majority of fans, with unsociable 4.30am kick-off times LA is eight hours behind the UK not proving a hindrance. Theres no confirmation yet, but Cosm may show World Cup matches this summer, and already have deals in place to screen NFL, basketball, baseball, tennis and UFC, plus a number of other sports.
They have an additional venue in Dallas, too, with others in Detroit and Atlanta opening soon as well as plans to branch out beyond the United States. Expanding Cosm internationally makes sense, Alawar says. Now we know we have a proven concept, were trying to scale that up. Unfortunately real estate happens a lot slower than media, but the UK makes sense and not just in London, but Manchester, Birmingham and other cities as well.
We know the best experience of watching sport is in the stadium with fans, but there are only so many seats, so if you cant be there, the next best experience is being at Cosm, close to the action with your friends.
As for the World Cup, we always strive to show the biggest sporting events there are few bigger moments in sport than the World Cup. Were working to understand and get all the details of what the World Cup fanzone will look like in LA, but we expect a lot of activity.
Tickets for Cosm in Los Angeles start at $41 (�30), making it more affordable than a seat inside the ground for a top fixture.
Just a few hundred yards away sits the 70,000-capacity SoFi Stadium, which will play host to eight matches at the World Cup, including the USAs first game against Paraguay on June 12. The �4 billion venue opened in 2020 and was privately financed by Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, who is also CEO of the Los Angeles Rams, the NFL team who play their home matches at the arena.
FFT tour the stadium during our visit and find it one of the most impressive in the world a huge canopy coversthe venue, with the design providing inspiration for Manchester Uniteds own planned new home. Beneath, a 70,000 square foot oval-shaped, double-sided infinity screen also hangs over the pitch, giving fans both a sensory overload and access to a whole host of in-game info.
The infinity screen will entertain, educate and allow fans to experience so much more you dont traditionally see at any other football stadium,
A glimpse of the future
Los Angeles is eight hours behind the UK, but when it comes to technology, its years ahead
DRIVERLESS CARS
Uber has operated in the UK for almost 15 years, yet the idea of ordering a car via an app still feels advanced. In LA, you can get a car with no driver at all. Google-owned Waymo offers driverless cars, which make their journey thanks to multiple sensors on the vehicle. While it feels odd at first, that sensation soon wears off and theres no mind-numbing small talk with the driver about holidays, the weather or politics
TICKETLESS ENTRY
Just across the road from Cosm, the Intuit Dome is the home of the LA Clippers basketball team and you dont even need a ticket to get in. Entry uses facial recognition, which you set up via the arenas app. On arrival at the venue, you walk past a number of cameras before the entry, where a screen greets you with your name and youre allowed in. Its fast, efficient and not only removes lengthy queues, but also the fear of losing your ticket. It could also be advantageous in the battle against ticket touts.
FRICTIONLESS EXPERIENCE
Ever spent longer than the 15-minute half-time break queuing for food or drink and missed a goal? At the Intuit Dome, you can upload your preferred payment method to an app and use facial recognition technology to buy food, drink or merchandise in seconds. A camera scans your face and lets you into a kiosk, where you pick up a burger or drink as you would from your own kitchen, then return to your seat within a couple of minutes. Queues eradicated completely.
Otto Benedict, the venues senior vice president of facilities and operations, tells FFT. FIFA will be able to push so much other content that isnt merely about whats happening on the field. Fans will be able to get stuff from the screen to their phone and interact during the game in a way that hasnt happened before.
On his first visit to the stadium recently, former Spurs hero Son Heung-min now with LAFC was in awe. Id never seen a better stadium than Tottenhams, but this one is so much better, he said.
As well as the Los Angeles Rams, the SoFi Stadium is home to another NFL team, the Los Angeles Chargers, and had been talked about as a contender to stage the World Cup final. When the US last hosted the tournament in 1994, the final was held at Los Angeles Rose Bowl, but this time New Jerseys MetLife Stadium home to both the New York Giants and the New York Jets in the NFL has got the nod instead.
Benedict hopes that the final wont be affected by inclement weather a number of matches at last summers Club World Cup, including the game between Palmeiras and Al Ahly held at MetLife Stadium, faced lengthy delays because of thunderstorms near the venues. Three summers ago, the SoFi Stadium successfully hosted the 2023 Gold Cup Final between Mexico and Panama in front of a capacity crowd.
What MetLife does is very similar to us they are the only other two-team NFL stadium, and they put on just as many concerts and special events aswe do, Benedict says. In New York at that time of the summer though, youre susceptible to thunderstorms and other things that can delay games, whereas here in Los Angeles, we have the roof structure over our stadium, so were not impacted by the weather. We hope for good weather for everybody, but I know that weve got an extra little level of protection here.
The SoFi Stadium will instead host a quarter-final, potentially featuring reigning European champions Spain. The World Cup final may be more than 2,500 miles away on the other side of the country on July 19, but all being well, fans can head along to Cosm instead and for a significantly cheaper way of feeling like theyre inside the stadium for the showpiece match.
After all, if they can make residents of LA believe theyre in Sunderland, they can pretty much do anything.
For more information on Los Angeles, visit discoverlosangeles.com
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