2 Million Tickets Sold: The O2 Reports Record Year

The O2 – London – The O2, London
AEG’s flagship in Europe celebrated another record year.

The O2 London reported over two million tickets sold in 2018, marking another record year for the 21,000 capacity venue.

209 performances across the genres music, comedy, sport and entertainment took place at London’s flagship entertainment complex in 2018.

Sell-out events included Kendrick Lamar, Pearl Jam and UFC, Country to Country’s sixth year and the 10-year anniversary of the Nitto ATP Finals. The latter attracted record audiences, with nearly 244,000 attending across eight days. 

The O2 commemorated shows throughout the year. Michael McIntyre was awarded for his record breaking ticket sales, the most of any act in The O2’s history. The comedian first performed in 2009 and nine years later, marked his 28th headline performance, having sold over 409,238 tickets. The record was previously held by Take That.

When global pop sensations BTS revealed their only UK dates of 2018, it was the most popular announcement the venue has ever had. Their phenomenal impact led to two sold-out performances and record merchandise sales at the venue, taking an accolade held by The Rolling Stones since 2012.

John Langford, VP & General Manager of The O2 commented, “We’ve seen a huge amount of activity at The O2 this year, with the opening of ICON Outlet, Oxygen Freejumping and not to mention the record breaking content that’s kept over two million entertained. I’d like to thank each and every person at The O2 and I’m confident that Steve Sayer will oversee another incredible year, when he takes over as VP & General Manager in 2019.”

AEG also opened part one of a new shopping outlet at the O2 in October: 210,000 square feet of shopping space, developed alongside Crosstree Real Estate Partners.

2018 also saw the opening of a trampoline park and the announcement of MAMMA MIA! The Party, an immersive theatrical dining experience, which will take residency in a “specially-adapted” venue within The O2 next spring, according to an announcement by AEG.

2018 was also the year of the first major esports event at the arena, the FIFA 2018 eWorld Cup Final.

AEG also implemented a string of environmental measures. For instance, during the ATP tournament, reusable cups for alcoholic drinks were provided, removing around 30,000 single-use plastic cups from the waste stream.

According to AEG, “the O2 currently commits less than 1% of its 3,500 tonnes of waste per annum to landfill and in 2018 built a bespoke, on-site waste compound to house the latest recycling and waste technology, plus a wormery to compost food waste and generate fertiliser.@

Naming rights partner O2 continued to invest in facilities for O2 customers, launching their refurbished O2 Blueroom in September to coincide with the first O2 Live event. Sky also redesigned their spaces, Sky Backstage and Sky Studios, while in the arena, Nescafé delivered a world-first with their Nescafé Azera coffee bar.

Pollstar did not receive the O2’s box office reports in time to make the year-end ranking.