New 'shared reality' venue opens in downtown Detroit with 87-foot dome

A new downtown Detroit venue will allow people to virtually experience live events like NFL games, making them feel like they're right at the court or field.

Whether you're a fan of Harry Potter, Cirque du Soleil, sports or much more, Cosm Detroit aims to take you right into the experience, making fans feel like they're at event sidelines, courtsides or center ice. And the place has a full menu and bars.

Cosm Detroit is located at Cadillac Square and steps from Campus Martius and opens the evening of Thursday, Sept. 10.

"It's not only about what they (fans) see, but what they feel," Jeb Terry, president and CEO of Cosm, said to a group of reporters during a tour of the venue ahead of its opening. "It's not the same as being there, but close."

Cosm Detroit captures fandom through a propriety, technology-packed experience, wall-to-wall high-resolution screens and its main attraction, an 87-foot-diamater, 12K+ LED dome. The venue spans 70,000 square feet across three levels.

This is the fourth Cosm venue. Its first one opened in 2024 in Los Angeles and later that year in Dallas. Earlier this year, Cosm Atlanta opened. Up next is Cosm Cleveland and there are plans to expand to more cities and internationally.

Cosm expects to be open daily and produce hundreds of events.

What to know about Cosm Detroit

Ticket prices vary depending on the event.

"Certain events are higher demand, and we price based on scarcity of the event," Terry said.

The venue's main experience is the dome, where fans enjoy stadium-style seating that puts people at a court, field and center ice levels of a stadium, or up close with art, films and destinations.

Cosm's Hall area also has stadium-style seating and features wall-to-wall displays. There are three areas at the hall level with comfortable lounge seating in front of big screens, and bar and high-top table seating. Cosm's overall capacity is 1,500 guests. There's also a rooftop deck.

"We've seen fans really love the format," Terry said. "What we've been doing in LA, Dallas, and Atlanta, really gives us the confidence that fans want more of this."

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Cosm Detroit opens with its sold-out NFL Los Angeles Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers game Thursday, Sept 10, from Melbourne, Australia.

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the game is at 8:30 p.m. On Friday, U.S. Open tennis begins at 3 p.m. and college football Saturday, Sept. 12, features Oklahoma at Michigan starting at noon. On Sunday, you can watch the Detroit Lions home opener against the New Orleans Saints. With tickets purchases, according to the Cosm app, Cosm validates parking for up to four hours at One Detroit, Two Detroit, Greektown Garage and the Z Garage. You will find more events and ticket prices listed at cosm.com/detroit.

A look at the food at Cosm

With sports and films comes snacks and drinks.

Across Cosm's space there are two bars with beer, cocktails, wine and non-alcoholic drinks. Fans can expect food popular with sports. According to its website, Cosm has a full menu including appetizers, main dishes, sides and desserts, plus seasonal options.

Clifton Booth is Cosm’s chef and has a passion for sourcing local; he called the menu “Detroit centric” and as local as possible.

Cosm sources its ingredients and menu items from partners within 100 miles. For its burgers, Booth is using Frasers Fairway Packing Co. smash burger patties, Wigley’s corned beef, Zingerman’s bread and even buns that Frita Batidos in Ann Arbor and Detroit use.

Cosm’s burger is a double smash patty with lettuce and tomato. And in a nod to Detroit, the burger features a Zip sauce aioli.

Other tasty menu items are nachos topped with barbacoa beef, house made craft beer queso, pica de gallo and pickled Fresno chilies. The Cadillac stack is Sy Gynsberg’s turkey pastrami with house made coleslaw, Cadillac sauce (Russian dressing), Swiss cheese on Zingerman’s double Jewish rye.

No sports venue is complete without chicken wings.

Booth says Cosm’s chicken wings get a 24-to-48-hour brine before cooking and are tossed in a sauce of hoisin, red bean paste, honey, palm sugar, rice wine vinegar, lots of ginger and scallions. While the wings are a smidgeon sticky, they are sweet, with crispy skin and tender meat. There’s also a flatbread with cupped and charred pepperoni and a drizzling of hot honey.

Future events

While live sports are Cosm’s calling card, the company has increasingly ventured into other entertainment areas for its big-screen offerings. The company's partners include Cirque du Soleil and Warner Brothers, whose stable of "shared reality" Cosm films include "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Matrix."

Cosm is working on deals with other movie studios and anticipates multiple annual film releases in its venues.

Terry said the company also has "ambition to go into the music space," with concerts potentially beamed from iconic sites such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre and London's O2 Arena.

"The same way we can transport you to the sideline, we want to transport you to the front row," Terry said.

Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SusanMariecooks. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on food and dining in metro Detroit.