Joe GallopThe O2 Arena has experienced a record-breaking year of ticket sales in 2023, with more than 2.5 million arena tickets sold.
The stat follows 2.3 million tickets being sold by the AEG-owned venue in 2022. It supports a 9.3% increase in year-on-year ticket sales since 2019 (excluding Covid years).
The arena recently hosted its milestone 3,000th event with Tom Jones performing on 17 December. The O2 hosted 216 events events in 2023. Since opening in 2007, it has welcomed more than 100 million visitors and sold more than 30 million tickets.
The O2’s newly promoted senior VP and GM Steve Sayer said, “2023 has been a phenomenal year of milestones at The O2 – from headline performances with some of the world’s most iconic performers like Madonna and Elton John, to surpassing over 30 million tickets sold at the venue. Our record-breaking ticket sales continue to position The O2 as the world’s busiest arena and we look forward to building on this legacy in 2024 and beyond.”
The O2 won industry awards in 2023 including ‘Best Visitor Experience’ at the Access All Areas Awards, ‘Venue of the Year’ at the London Venue & Catering Awards and ‘The LIVE Green Award’ at the LIVE Awards.
Alongside residencies with artists such as Madonna and Elton John, The O2 has also seen a rise in first timer performers in the arena this year, with 24 artists playing the venue for the first time, compared to 12 in 2022.
Next year the venue is set to host the world’s first carbon removed events, in collaboration with carbon removal experts CUR8 and sustainable event specialists A Greener Future, at The 1975’s headline shows in February 2024.