INGLEWOOD, Calif. — It’s halftime at the Cotton Bowl, featuring Miami and Ohio State. Christopher Lanier, a pilot from San Luis Obispo, occupies his seat at Cosm, an immersive sports entertainment venue in Inglewood, gazing at the 87-foot-wide planetarium-style screen displaying an advertisement — for Cosm. Promoting the various sports experiences available at the location, it showcases an assortment of clips, including Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. Lanier watches the perspective from behind home plate.
“Where else can you get that view?” Lanier posits rhetorically. “Other than at the stadium, in thousand-dollar seats.”
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The magnitude of Cosm, and how it seemingly immerses the viewer into the action, is challenging to comprehend fully without visiting one of their venues — they currently operate two, one in Inglewood near SoFi Stadium and another in the suburbs of Dallas. That enveloping experience is what founder Steve Winn and President and CEO Jeb Terry envisioned when they established the company in 2020.
“I collaborated with Steve before launching this business, and as a thought partner, leader in the organization, he had numerous brilliant ideas, and had always been familiar with planetariums as well,” Terry expressed. “What I was doing in sports, combined with my vision for the future of sports, was merging that, along with assembling the team and expanding the vision.”
To establish a technological foundation in its early years, Cosm acquired several companies in the computer graphics and virtual reality sectors, including Evans and Sutherland, LiveLikeVR, and C360. In July 2024 — coinciding with the opening of their first two locations — a round of startup funding secured over $250 million.
Cosm has collaborations with all four major North American sports leagues, the NCAA, UFC, Premier League, and most major television networks broadcasting sports. While these networks possess numerous cameras, they offer their own technology due to the unique nature of Cosm’s presentations.
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They employ specially designed cameras equipped with convex lenses, which transmit back to their production area outside the stadium. The feed is then sent to Cosm’s headquarters in Playa Vista before being relayed to the screens on a dome made up of thousands of individual LED lights.
“That’s the reason the dome appears so impressive,” Terry noted. “The meticulous attention to detail and the care taken in the background.”
This diligence extends to every aspect of the presentation. According to Manager of Film Operations Ariel Harris, the game footage arrives with a 40-second delay, allowing her team to prepare graphics and sound for key moments like touchdowns.
For football games, Cosm utilizes a camera beneath each goalpost, a high-angle sideline camera, and a low-angle sideline camera operated by a rolling cart that is informally referred to as a Chapman after Chapman/Leonard, the company that manufactures it. Sam Jimenez, who pilots these carts for Cosm, mentions they have 42 of them in their collection.
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Technology can be unpredictable, but Senior Director of Production Operations Frank LaSpina believes he can proactively prevent issues by putting in the necessary groundwork in advance.
“We strive diligently to try to prevent problems before they occur,” he remarked. “There are multiple layers of redundancy integrated within the production. This includes backup fiber strands in case something gets damaged or stepped on; connectivity, power, weather, or if people interfere with the cameras. We work hard to anticipate potential issues and ensure that redundancies are in place to avert them before they materialize.”
On this particular occasion, LaSpina is supervising the setup at Rose Bowl Stadium the day prior to the game between Alabama and Indiana. It’s raining, and he attentively addresses this by outfitting cameras with custom-designed covers, a recent innovation that the company uses as an example of its commitment to continual improvement.
“We’re in this business to succeed, and with that competitive mentality, we’re constantly looking to expand, grow, innovate, and elevate Cosm to the next stage,” Terry asserted.
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Cosm’s venue may be miles removed from the game, yet it still immerses fans in the stadium ambiance. For instance, during the Cotton Bowl presentation, Miami and Ohio State supporters have converged on Inglewood, and although the Buckeye presence is notably stronger, Cosm has still managed to cultivate an environment for both teams.
“I truly believe [my] favorite aspect is the people surrounding you in the dome, in that vicinity,” expressed Lawrence Rolle, a Miami alum who currently serves as a doctor for UCLA Health. He’s at Cosm for the second time within two weeks, having previously attended the team’s victory over Texas A&M in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
“We had the privilege of hosting some Texas A&M fans, but a multitude of Canes supporters. It genuinely felt like I was at a Canes game in Miami.”
This shared experience is a significant factor in Cosm’s allure, yet questions linger regarding its true accessibility for everyone.
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Cosm’s tickets for the subsequent Miami game — the Fiesta Bowl against Ole Miss — in the dome ranged between $29 and $138, but any option to purchase multiple adjacent seats in a single transaction exceeded $100. In certain instances, ticket prices surpassed those required to enter the actual stadium in Arizona. The lowest-priced dome ticket for the national championship game is $443, notably lower than the entry fee at Hard Rock Stadium, but still not exactly inexpensive.
“From a perspective of a diverse audience, could they implement intentional strategies to accommodate individuals who have historically been excluded from the market regarding communal sports viewing?” ponders Kellie McElhaney, a professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. “There exists an intriguing grassroots fan experience that I think would be valuable for them to consider.”
As a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, McElhaney highlights the disparity in the types of fans attending Warriors games compared to Valkyries games. Both events take place in the same arena, yet the latter is more affordable and leans significantly towards families. She believes Cosm could benefit from this insight in terms of marketing to women and showcasing women’s sports.
“One observation I made while reviewing their materials was a significant missed opportunity, as the focus seems predominantly on men’s sports,” she noted. “Women are represented as wine drinkers in their imagery and similar contexts. The branding felt very male-centric, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the leadership structure of the company is largely male. I don’t intend this negatively, but considering the current cultural climate for women’s sports, I believe they could capture a competitive advantage by specifically and intentionally targeting women’s sports.”
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Cosm has grand aspirations for the future, with new locations scheduled to launch in Atlanta and Detroit later this year, and another expected in Cleveland by 2027. Terry asserts that no idea is beyond consideration for future growth.
“We’re truly entering a phase of hyper growth in the business, now that our first two venues are operational, with three more in development,” he stated. “The focus now is on scaling. How do we evolve into this global vision we hope to realize, while maintaining our quality standards?”
“That’s the promise of our endeavor, to be the best place to watch if you can’t make it to the stadium.”
However, at times, it may not be the most suitable option for everyone.
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Lanier has come with his family, including his college-age son Michael and Michael’s girlfriend Kaden Keech. Keech struggles with vertigo, and the low elevation of their seats is making her uncomfortable. The couple discovered unoccupied higher seats at halftime, but their experience has prompted them to ponder some drawbacks.
“If I’m down below, and I’m closer to the screen, it’s significantly more challenging,” Keech remarked.
Once they are settled into their new seats, though, those discomforts appear to dissipate. Keech reacts to a remarkable second-half play before turning to her boyfriend.
“For a moment,” she shares with him. “I forgot we were just watching a screen.”
