Christopher BarrettSince opening in July 1995 with a show by Torvill & Dean, the AO Arena has hosted 31 million visitors. On the back a £70m redevelopment last year, AAA marks the venue’s birthday by examining how it is poised for an even brighter future.
On 15 July 1995, Manchester saw the opening of the Nynex Arena. The landmark venue swiftly proved a huge draw, and in less than two years the one millionth ticket had been sold.
Renamed AO Arena in 2020, the venue hosts an average of 130 shows and more than 1.2 million visitors per year, resulting in a spend of more than £114m in the city centre.
The enormous number of major acts to have played the AO Arena in the past 30 years range from the Spice Girls, who made their venue debut with four sold-out shows in 1998, to Metallica; who in 2017 broke the venue’s show attendance record by playing in front of 19,423 fans.
From WWF wrestling to the Dalai Lama, the hugely diverse range of entertainment staged at the AO Arena has long reflected its remarkable show format flexibility.
Having been the first act to perform there, fittingly, ice-skating heroes Torvill & Dean returned to the arena earlier this year to mark its anniversary.
As part of the huge recent investment in the ASM Global-operated venue, the AO Arena’s capacity has been increased from 21,000 to 23,000, with its standing-floor capacity doubled, from 3,100 to 6,200. The venue now offers the largest in-the-round show capacity in Europe.
With 15 years’ experience working for the likes of Live Nation and Manchester venue Escape to Freight Island, AO Arena general manager Gemma Vaughan joined the team in 2023, at a time of major changes for the venue.
The full results of that £70m redevelopment programme, which has transformed the AO Arena, were unveiled last year. Among them is a complete overhaul of the arrival experience, with new concourse spaces, revamped food and beverage offerings, and a new VIP entrance. The venue has a new lower concourse bar area, with a capacity of 6,000, designed to support the increased standing floor capacity within the arena bowl.
There have also been new heating and ventilation systems installed, along with the addition of a new control room to improve security. For artists and crew, the AO Arena has seen a complete back-of-house renovation to enhance the artist experience; including a new artist green room, upgraded artist dressing rooms and crew facilities.
New VIP suite, premium bar and restaurant The Mezz provides guests with a view of the arena bowl and stage, and frequently hosts post-show entertainment.
“The redevelopment allowed us to tier all our premium spaces, so our products start at a very accessible price, ranging all the way up to super premium,” says Vaughan. “We’ve seen a drop in attendance at events but an increase in the amount of money spent per ticketholder. The investment in premium facilities was a direct lean into that. It’s all about elevating fan experience, encouraging broader engagement via the range of entertainment we have on offer at the venue, and constantly adapting to changes in the global touring market. We are aligning ourselves with the 4.9 Trustpilot review level achieved by AO.”
Gemma Vaughan
The naming rights deal with UK-based online electrical retailer AO was struck in 2020, and has since been extended to 2030. One of the key members of the AO team responsible for overseeing the naming rights partnership is sponsorship manager Oliver Pfeiffer.
He says, “For us, it’s all about connecting with our customers. Prior to the deal being signed we researched our customers’ passion points, and live entertainment. particularly music, over indexed.
“The partnership is much more than just about having our name on the building. The fact that we are an online retail brand means that being involved in a sponsorship like this gives us a tangible way of being able to engage with our customers. When they walk through the door, we make sure that the activations we create play a part in the amazing experience they have within the venue.”
When it comes to ensuring artists and their teams also have a first-class experience at the AO Arena, Vaughan says nothing has been taken for granted, with the changes made the result of focus groups with promoter partners and their reps. The attention to detail takes in everything from production packs being left on every desk; which containing the likes of socks, umbrellas and air pods; to hard-standing structural elements that enable the swift load-in and out of shows.
“We’re obviously operating in a very competitive market in Manchester,” she says. “We are very lucky to exist in a city where we’ve got two stadiums, one cricked ground, two arenas, four 10,000-capacity spaces and a whole community of grassroots venues.
“Our redevelopment did not stop at the guest experience, we also carried out a £2m upgrade of the back-of-house areas to make sure we remained competitive and enable our artists and their touring teams to have a home-from-home experience in our venue.
“When artists are on a 20–30-day tour, they often don’t see the light of day; they go from tour bus to our venue back to the tour bus and off to another venue. Our new back-of-house offering was very carefully developed with that in mind, and we have been very forward thinking with our technological enhancements. Visitors can do everything from plug in and continue to play a TV series from a streaming platform, to view a live stream from the stage so that they don’t have to leave the comfort of their dressing rooms to know if there’s a short call.”
The Mezz
Having staged 136 events last year, the AO Arena is set to better that with around 140 in 2025. Vaughan says that to offset fluctuations in the touring cycle for arena-level artists, recent years have seen the venue team diversify the offering, with an increase in family entertainment and special events such as brand activations and conferences.
Says Vaughan, “We’re also working with BBC 6 Music to host intimate Q&A events, in our new lower event floor, with a capacity of around 220. It’s about keeping the AO arena brand front of mind while diversifying our content calendar by doing something a little bit new, niche and interesting.
“The beauty of our venue is that we are so flexible. We can host events in the bowl from a 3,500 capacity up to 23,000. That has meant, over the years, that we have often been able to give artists who are on an upward trajectory the opportunity to play an arena show at an early stage in their career, before welcoming them back to play full-scale shows.
“The beauty of having such a remarkable legacy is that you can go full circle with an artist, and that’s what we saw with Torvill & Dean. Because of our heritage, our understanding of the market, and our relationships with promoters and artists, we’ve really been on an amazing journey with a lot of people at the AO Arena. It’s a wonderful place for us to be, and for us it’s about harnessing that excitement and moving forward into our next 30 years.”
For the full article see the Summer edition of Access All Areas here.