Binghamton grad leads Sphere to forefront of immersive entertainment

If there’s one “claim to fame” Jennifer Koester ’94 loves to share, it’s that she hasn’t missed a U2 concert in New York since she was a teenager.

And when the iconic Irish rock band took the stage in late September 2023 as the inaugural concert residency at Sphere, an 875,000-square-foot cutting-edge entertainment venue just east of the Las Vegas Strip, you couldn’t keep her away.

What was it like? An immersive experience of sound and stunning visuals that electrified all the senses at once. Only this time, she wasn’t cheering along as just another U2 fan.

In January 2024, Koester became president of business operations for Sphere, and in June 2024, her role was expanded to president and chief operating officer. She leads all aspects of operating Sphere’s business and venue while also providing strategic oversight of Sphere Studios, the immersive content studio in Burbank, Calif., dedicated to developing multi-sensory experiences exclusively for Sphere. This includes the venue’s concert residencies, original programming, and corporate and marquee events.

For Koester, who earned her bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Binghamton University’s School of Management, it’s the latest chapter of a 30-year career that has included experience in sales, marketing, digital business and the law. During that time, she held leadership roles at Cablevision and, more recently, Google.

“What drew me to this role at Sphere is that starting with my management information systems focus at Binghamton, I’ve always been at the intersection of technology and entertainment, especially focused on ‘market disruptors’ or the first of its kind,” Koester says. “Having this opportunity to focus on leveraging new technologies while delivering on our growth strategies feels like the pinnacle of what I’ve been working toward in my career.”

Sphere Entertainment Co. announced Sphere in 2018. It includes a 16K resolution wraparound interior LED screen, speakers with beamforming and wave field synthesis technologies, and 4D physical effects. At 366 feet high by 516 feet wide and at a cost of $2.3 billion, it’s the largest spherical structure in the world.

Behind the scenes, beyond the venue’s growing global accolades, Koester is exploring ways to expand the use of technology and advertising to keep bringing new experiences to the venue. She’s committed to ensuring it remains an iconic entertainment destination for audiences.

So, she can’t help but smile when she says those aspects of the job bring out “the geek in me.”

‘Navigating ambiguity’

How did Koester, whose career initially found her entrenched in the nuances of the growing field of intellectual technology law, land in the midst of a cutting-edge entertainment field? One might expect a linear path in a career spanning three decades.

For Koester, not so much. And she wouldn’t have it any other way. She began as a computer science major at Binghamton, then switched her major several times before realizing she was more intrigued with focusing on management information systems.

“Binghamton is great at building community. I just loved the diversity of the school,” Koester says. “As a student, I learned how you’ve got to find those skills you enjoy using, because they’ll help get your foot in the door in new areas that help round out your professional experience.”

After Binghamton, Koester earned her law degree from St. John’s University School of Law. But she was drawn more to the intersection of emerging technologies and business than to criminal or civil cases.

“I’m very comfortable navigating ambiguity,” she says. “Arguing both sides and figuring out how you minimize risk while keeping in mind growth opportunities positioned me as a very business-minded attorney.”

Koester eventually joined Cablevision, where she spent 10 years, starting in its legal department. She later became senior vice president of advanced advertising product development, data analytics and ad operations for Cablevision Media Sales.

As part of a team that helped transition more personalized advertising from digital mediums into television, Koester’s focus was on navigating the legal issues of being one of the first to market this as a business proposition. Her role transitioned to be more business-centric, and it became a chance to explore unique approaches for adapting her legal expertise into tactics that would serve the goals of a revenue-generating business.

Koester hadn’t considered before that she liked leading large organizations as much as she’d enjoyed navigating those ambiguous areas within business law. She was inspired to explore ways to fill in other gaps to help her keep advancing in that type of industry.

“One of my biggest takeaways from that time in my career is that people tend to see things in you that you might not necessarily see in yourself,” Koester says. “So, if someone taps you on the shoulder and encourages you to take a risk, go for it.”

‘Outside perspective’

When Koester joined Google in 2016, it was a chance to refine the skills she’d cultivated at Cablevision. Her duties revolved around developing global partnerships for Google’s telecommunications partners and bringing to market Google-based solutions around dynamic ad insertion for telecommunications providers and video distributors.

At the time, this was a new market for Google to explore. Three months into her role, Koester realized Google had many touchpoints with these large partners, across multiple areas of the business, but they weren’t talking with each other. Spotting a chance to improve collaboration, Koester took the initiative.

“I raised my hand and pointed out that Google was missing an opportunity to think more holistically about these partnerships,” she says. “Sometimes, you need to bring in that outside perspective and remember that no idea is a bad idea.”

The next level

During her last few years at Google, Koester led a strategic alliances function, collaborating with its top 100 partners spanning 12 industries to improve experiences and continue building relationships.

Koester adopted this approach at Sphere. She and her team ask: “How can we better operationalize this company? How can we pull people together? And how can we align our priorities to ensure we keep growing to become the place that the world’s biggest artists and brands want to go?”

To help accomplish those goals and cultivate Sphere as a business, Koester has been prioritizing growth in strategic partnerships, building out the calendar of events and maintaining strong ticket sales by bringing in new technologies that allow the venue to continue providing unique experiences and ensure it remains on the cutting-edge.

“One of the things that has been most exciting to see over the past year and a half, as we’ve had events across a wider range, is how Sphere is a disruptor across every category — it’s not just concerts,” Koester says. “Each event is an opportunity not only for our Sphere Studios team, but also artists and brands, to use the medium in different ways — but equally powerful in getting audiences excited. We ask everyone we work with to think outside the box about what’s possible, and it’s been mind-blowing to see how they have come in and worked with us to take full advantage of Sphere’s capabilities.”

Sphere is continuing to grow as a global premium brand, she says, and “we’re just scratching the surface” of its potential as an entertainment destination.

“Sphere is a unique venue — it’s not for everyone — but it’s perfect for those with a real vision, who want to partner with us to push boundaries technologically and creatively and build unforgettable experiences.”

Not every fan gets to hold the proverbial “keys to the castle” where their favorite musicians perform. That’s why, in Koester’s eyes, a leadership role with Sphere is just as exciting as any immersive experience the venue can deliver.

It’s also why she sounds less like an executive and more like a fan when she describes how this new chapter of her career feels: “Mind-blowing.”