Europe Arena Associations Attendance Rises

– SSE Arena Belfast

The European Arenas Association (EAA) and the National Arenas Association (NAA) in the UK say combined attendance at member venues in 2016 reached 23.3 million.  

EAA members welcomed an audience of 17.6 million people, while 11.1 million visited NAA venues. While attendance figures for EAA members increased from some 14 million in 2015, the overall NAA audience decreased from 12.7 million in 2015.

Since six venues are members of both organizations – The O2 and SSE Arena Wembley in London, Genting and Barclaycard Arenas in Birmingham, SSE Arena in Belfast, SSE Hydro in Glasgow – overall attendance in 2016 was adjusted to 23.3 million.

In total, 2,874 performances took place at EAA arenas, and 2,046 at NAA venues. “Music continues to be the most popular event type, drawing in audiences of over 9.2m people to 1,119 performances throughout the year for the EAA whilst the NAA saw over 7m people attending 1,087 music events,” the announcement reads.

The second most popular event type for EAA members in 2016 was sports, drawing 36 percent of all event performances and 28 percent of attendance.

For NAA members, family events came in second, making up 26 percent of performances and 19 per cent of attendance. 

The EAA increased its membership from 34 to 36.

The SSE Arena, Wembley – The SSE Arena, Wembley

New members include Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria, Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, UK, ISS Dome in Düsseldorf, Germany, and Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.

No longer EAA members are Arena Zagreb, Croatia, and Debrecen Fonix Hall, Hungary.

The NAA increased its membership by one, with Derby Arena joining in 2017, bringing the total number of NAA arenas up to 22.