London, UK, Dec. 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — London, Wednesday 11 December 2024, 9am: The O2, the world’s most popular live entertainment, leisure, and retail destination, owned and operated by AEG Europe, is celebrating a consecutive year of record-breaking ticket sales, with over 2.6 million arena tickets sold in 2024 – a 3.5% increase from 2023’s previously unsurpassed figure.
In addition to growth in the UK, AEG Europe has also announced a record-breaking year in Germany with events growth of 11.5% YOY. In 2024, Uber Arena in Berlin hosted 1,8 million fans across 176 events, with over one million people attending 150 events at Barclays Arena in Hamburg. Coupled with the success of Berlin’s Uber Eats Music Hall, who hosted 137 events, the demand for and investment in live experience showcases the strength of the entertainment market in Germany.
Across the year in the UK, The O2 hosted over 200 arena performances spanning music, comedy, sport, and entertainment. As well as multi-night performances from global superstars like Liam Gallagher and Olivia Rodrigo among others, The O2 welcomed back several landmark events including The BRIT Awards and the world-famous C2C Festival. In February, The O2 also made history by hosting the world’s first carbon removed arena events at The 1975’s four headline shows, resulting in the extraction and removal of 545.9 tonnes – the equivalent yearly electricity usage of 395 average homes.
A venue which continues to evolve and support emerging talent and genres, The O2 hosted more first-time headliners than ever before in 2024, with 41 artists taking to the stage for the first time, including Raye, Charli XCX, Mirror and IVE – a 70% increase on 2023. As programming within the world-famous arena continues to diversify, The O2 also celebrated several record-breaking events across a broad range of genres in 2024.
Steve Sayer, Senior Vice President and General Manager at The O2 said: “2024 is a year that will go down in history at The O2 for a multitude of reasons. We’re thrilled to report another year of record-breaking tickets sales, which is testament to the diversity and quality of our arena programming, with some truly iconic performances this year from Liam Gallagher, The Killers, Raye and so many others. But most importantly, in 2024 The O2 was at the forefront of driving industry change and challenging norms when we delivered the world’s first carbon removed arena events. In doing so, we were able to demonstrate a new event model which could transform the future of live events and ensure a more sustainable future.”
In a year where The O2 welcomed over 10 million visitors through its doors, the venue was also named as the first UK arena to achieve ‘Platinum’ Accessibility status with disability charity Attitude is Everything, in recognition of The O2’s commitment to improving accessibility for disabled fans, artists, and staff.
Sayer continued, “The O2 isn’t a venue that rests on its laurels; we’re looking forward to an even bigger and better 2025, and to continue building on our legacy as the world’s busiest live entertainment arena.”
Looking ahead to 2025, The O2 will host a world-first event with Formula 1 in February to mark the launch of their upcoming season, as well as a UK exclusive residency with global superstar Usher, who will be bringing his hotly anticipated tour to The O2 for a 10-night run in April.
ENDS
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Notes to editors
In 2024, programming within The O2 continued to diversify, with the world-famous venue also celebrating record-breaking events across a broad range of genres. Highlights include:
- Latin: Karol G became the fastest selling Latin artist to perform at The O2 for her sold-out shows in June to nearly 30,000 fans, and the first Latin artist to play two headline shows at the venue.
- South Asian: Diljit Dosanjh became the highest-selling South Asian artist to perform at The O2, following his three sold-out shows in October. The venue hosted more South Asian artists in 2024 than ever before as the UK appetite for the genre continues to grow, including Anirudh, Karan Aujla, Arijit Singh, and Sid Sriram.
- Country: Europe’s largest Country music festival, C2C, returned to The O2 in March. Across ten official stages, C2C hosted over 70 artists and saw 164 performances, with record attendance figures of over 45,000 fans over the weekend. The O2 also welcomed back Chris Stapleton for two sold-out shows in October, with over 30,000 fans in attendance.
- Comedy: Peter Kay, overtook the top spot for the highest numbers of performances at The O2, having performed at the venue 40 times through his monthly residency (as of December 2024), which continues into 2025.
- Pop: Take That cemented their record as the music artist to have performed the most times at The O2 with 39 shows selling over 600,000 tickets, following their sold-out, six night residency in April.
- Sports: In July, The O2 and the Mayor of London also hosted the UK’s largest indoor screening of the Euro’s Final 2024, with over 14,000 fans in attendance. The 2024 Premier League Darts Final in May broke the PDC’s record for the highest-ever attendance of a UK darts event, with over 14,000 tickets sold.
- eSports: The League of Legends World Championship Finals, which took place at The O2 in November, set the record as the largest esports event in history, reaching a peak viewership of over 6.7 million for the televised event, in addition to over 14,500 seats sold.
- The O2 – Diljit Dosanjh – Luke Dyson
- The O2 – League of Legends – Worlds Finals – Luke Dyson