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The O2 Arena

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This article is about the indoor arena located in London. For other uses, see O2 Arena.

The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena is located in Royal Borough of Greenwich
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena
Location within Royal Borough of Greenwich
Former namesNorth Greenwich Arena (during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics)
LocationGreenwich, London
Coordinates51°30′10.79″N 0°0′11.28″E / 51.5029972°N 0.0031333°E / 51.5029972; 0.0031333
Public transitLondon Underground North Greenwich
OwnerHomes and Communities Agency
OperatorAnsco Arena Limited (AEG Live) Europe
Capacity20,000
SurfaceVersatile
Construction
Built2003 to 2007
Opened24 June 2007
ArchitectPopulous[1]
Structural engineerBuro Happold
Services engineerM-E Engineers Ltd.[2]
General contractorSir Robert McAlpine
Website
theo2.co.uk

The O2 Arena (temporarily the sponsor neutral "North Greenwich Arena", during the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics), is a multi purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in south east London.

Worldwide artists such as Beyonce, Fifth Harmony, Justin Bieber and Pink have performed at The O2.

The arena was built under the former Millennium Dome, a large dome shaped building built to house an exhibition celebrating the turn of the third millennium; as the dome shaped structure still stands over the arena, The Dome remains a name in common usage for the venue. The arena, as well as the total O2 complex, is named after its primary sponsor, the telecommunications company O2.

The O2 Arena has the second highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the Manchester Arena, but took the crown of the world's busiest music arena from New York City's Madison Square Garden in 2008.[3] The closest underground station to the venue is the North Greenwich station on the Jubilee line.

History

Prince’s stage for his sold out performance of 2007

Following the closure of the Millennium Experience at the end of 2000, the Millennium Dome was leased to Meridian Delta Ltd. in December 2001, for redevelopment as an entertainment complex. This included plans for an indoor arena.[4]

Construction of the arena started in 2003, and finished in 2007. After the interior of the dome had been largely cleared and before building work inside began, in December 2004, the dome was used as the main venue for the annual Crisis Open Christmas organised by the London based homelessness charity Crisis.[5]

Owing to the impossibility of using cranes inside the dome structure, the arena's roof was constructed on the ground within the dome and then lifted. The arena building's structure was then built around the roof. The arena building, which houses the arena and the arena concourse, is independent from all other buildings in the O2 and houses all the arena's facilities. The arena building itself takes up 40% of the total dome structure.

The seating arrangement throughout the whole arena can be modified, similar to the Manchester Arena.[6] The ground surface can also be changed between ice rink, basketball court, exhibition space, conference venue, private hire venue and concert venue.

The arena was built to reduce echoing, a common problem among London music venues.[7]

O2 Arena hosting a tennis match

Events

Main article: Events at the O2 Arena

Since 2009, the arena has hosted the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals, the season ending finale of men's professional tennis, featuring the top eight players in the world. In 2015 it was announced that the tournament would extend its deal to hold the tournament until 2018. The venue has hosted the event for the second longest tenure, behind only Madison Square Garden (1977–89).

During the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the venue was referred as the North Greenwich Arena due to Olympics regulations regarding corporate sponsorship of event sites.[8]

On 25 September 2013, Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac on stage, marking her first live performance since 1998.[9] She later re joined the band officially in January 2014.[10]

In November 2014, the O2 Arena caused controversy when guests were prevented from bringing food on site because they represented a terror threat. However, staff reportedly said that the food was banned because the food outlets were not making enough money.[11]

On 16 January 2016, the O2 Arena hosted the comeback fight of former heavyweight champion David Haye, promoted by Salter Brothers Entertainment.[12]

Ticket sales records

Despite being open for only 200 days per year (the equivalent of seven months), the venue sold over 1.2 million tickets in 2007, making it the third most popular venue in the world for concerts and family shows, narrowly behind the Manchester Arena (1.25 million) and Madison Square Garden in New York City (1.23 million).

By 2008, it had become the world's busiest venue, with sales of more than two million, taking the crown from the Manchester Arena.[citation needed] As of 2015, the O2 Arena was the busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales, handling 1,819,487 tickets.

World's Busiest Arenas – through Q3 2016[13]
Venue 2016 Ticket sales for concerts/shows
The O2 Arena, London, UK 1,064,912
Madison Square Garden, New York, U.S. 731,574
Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico 701,001
AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France 621,629
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. 582,877
Manchester Arena, Manchester, UK 528,489
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada 503,936
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada 450,536
The Forum, Inglewood, California, U.S. 445,923
Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany 437,667

Prizes and awards

  • 2010 London Lifestyle Awards – London's Live Music Venue of the Year

See also

References

  1. ^ "The O2 London - POPULOUS". POPULOUS.
  2. ^ O2 Arena - ME Engineers
  3. ^ White, Dominic (15 April 2008). "The Lemon Dome That was Transformed into O2's Concert Crown". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  4. ^ "New life for Millennium Dome". news.bbc.co.uk. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Dome sleeps 700 over festive week". BBC News. 28 December 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  6. ^ "wins contract at O2 Arena". Audience Systems. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Dome's hi-tech refit for The O2". BBC News. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  8. ^ "O2 Arena forced into Olympic rebrand following sponsor clash". brandrepublic.com.
  9. ^ "Christine McVie rejoins Fleetwood Mac on stage at O2". BBC News.
  10. ^ "Christine McVie rejoins Fleetwood Mac". BBC News.
  11. ^ "Food ban at ATP tennis tour finals over 'terror fears'". BBC News.
  12. ^ "David Haye confirms comeback against Mark de Mori at O2 Arena in January". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  13. ^ "TOP 200 ARENA VENUES 2016" (PDF). 17 October 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The O2 Arena.
Preceded by ATP Year-end Championships
Venue
2009–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Euroleague
Final Four
Venue
2013 		Succeeded by

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