Evaluating the potential of U.S. markets for immersive experiences

The immersive experience sector is growing rapidly, especially in the United States. This trend is fueled by audiences seeking to escape the ordinary, drawn to memorable and captivating activities to share with friends and family. For producers, this enthusiasm creates a significant opportunity to innovate and deliver original experiences.
While such immersive concepts can be appealing to audiences, their revenue potential depends on targeting strategic markets and tailoring positioning to local preferences. This requires a thorough analysis of demand dynamics and entertainment supply in each market to determine their potential.
Habo has developed a through methodology to identify promising markets for immersive experiences and establish strategies to ensure success. This framework was applied to the U.S. market, whose importance to the sector was highlighted in a prior study.
How can we identify the most promising markets for immersive experiences?
Using metropolitan areas as the basis for entertainment market analysis
Metropolitan areas, or urban agglomerations, were selected as the unit of analysis for defining entertainment markets due to their broader scope compared to the narrower boundaries of cities. These economically and socially integrated regions provide a more accurate view of potential audiences—both local and tourist—their mobility patterns, and the competitive landscape. In the U.S., this analysis is based on Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).
Key criteria for evaluating market attractiveness
The attractiveness of a market for an immersive experience is largely driven by the size of its addressable market. For each metropolitan area, this size is influenced by factors such as population, economic health, entertainment consumption, and accessibility in terms of transport and tourism infrastructure.
To identify the most promising metropolitan areas, the analysis focused on these four key dimensions:
Habo’s framework allows for the classification of U.S. metropolitan regions according to their appeal to immersive experience producers:
In-depth analysis of targeted markets
To help immersive experience producers prioritize target markets, a detailed analysis is conducted to evaluate their potential and identify key factors for commercialization success. This analysis is structured around three main areas:
1. Overall market overview
This overview of the economic, cultural, and infrastructural landscape positions important characteristics compared to other major U.S. regions.
2. Demand profile and potential
This analysis focuses on accurately assessing the size of the exploitable addressable market, preferred entertainment categories, and specific consumer behaviors. The size of the addressable market can be evaluated based on specific sites or by identifying priority zones for immersive experiences within each market.
3. Competitive dynamics and landscape
This area examines the concentration of entertainment offerings, major competitive dynamics, and the characteristics of competing immersive experiences. The analysis highlights concepts, themes, pricing ranges, and operating contexts of competing offerings to identify opportunities for differentiation.
Understanding the impact of market and location choices on commercial potential
Thorough analysis of markets and site selection is crucial for the success of an immersive experience, whether it’s temporary, seasonal, or permanent.
By understanding these factors, producers can align with audience expectations and enhance impact, engagement, and profitability, to ensure the experience’s long-term viability. A trusted analytical framework can structure this approach, guiding informed decisions and maximizing the potential for success.