London, UK, Dec. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The O2, the world’s most popular live entertainment venue, owned and operated by AEG, has delivered another consecutive record-breaking year, hosting 239 arena performances in 2025, a 19% increase on 2024. In what has been a landmark year for the venue, growth was recorded across all key metrics, with more than 2.9m tickets sold, representing an 11.5% uplift versus the year prior.
Beyond the continued strength of the UK’s live entertainment sector, the company attributes the success of The O2 and its record-breaking attendance to sustained reinvestment in innovative live event technologies, enhanced premium ticketing experiences, and a consistently compelling programme of world-class content spanning music, sport, entertainment and comedy.
2025 has been a year of non-stop, high-quality and diverse programming at The O2, featuring global headliners, homegrown talent and a growing wave of debut arena performers. Driven in part by the continued globalisation of music – with streaming and social platforms enabling artists to reach new audiences at unprecedented scale – The O2 welcomed 55 first-time performers this year, a 34% increase on 2024. The venue hosted artists from countries represented for the first time, including China, Singapore, Japan and Turkey, while debut acts such as Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, Pitbull and Tyler, the Creator all delivered multiple sold-out nights during their inaugural runs.
Speaking on The O2’s exceptional annual performance, Steve Sayer, Senior Vice President and General Manager, The O2, said: “2025 has been an extraordinary year for The O2, marking our third consecutive year of record-breaking success and firmly cementing our position as the world’s most popular live entertainment venue. Welcoming more events and more fans than ever before is a powerful reflection of both the continued strength of the live entertainment sector and the relentless dedication of our team, who work tirelessly to deliver best-in-class experiences for the millions of guests we are proud to host each year.
Our 2025 programme has been ambitious, diverse, and truly global, while The O2 continues to set the standard for innovation, fan experience, and sustainability. This year stands as one of the most successful in our history, and as we look ahead to 2026, our commitment to delivering world-class content and supporting the artists, partners, and communities we serve has never been stronger.”
It has been a defining quarter for The O2, underscored by major sustainability milestones and historic live-music achievements. The venue recently completed its transition to 100% green energy and hosted a record-breaking, UK-exclusive four-night run of Radiohead shows, with the band surpassing the arena’s previous attendance record on every night, setting a new peak of 22,355 guests. The O2 also unveiled a pioneering three-year partnership with Music Venue Trust last week, further strengthening its long-term commitment to supporting and investing in the UK’s grassroots music ecosystem.
The O2 has once again topped Billboard’s global charts for total attendance and number of shows, while ranking second worldwide for total gross following another record-breaking year. Maintaining its position at the very pinnacle of the global live entertainment industry, The O2 remains the only UK venue to feature among the world’s top 20 arenas.
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