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The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O₂ arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the second-highest seating capacity of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the Manchester Arena, and in 2008 was the world's busiest music arena.[1] As of 2022, it is the ninth-largest building in the world by volume.

The O2 Arena

The O2 Arena, view from S W India Dock Entrance, January 2013
The O2 Arena Location within Royal Borough of Greenwich
Full name	The O2 Arena
Former names	North Greenwich Arena (during the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics)
Location	Greenwich Peninsula London, SE10
Coordinates	51.5029°N 0.0032°E / 51.5029; 0.0032
Public transit	North Greenwich
Owner	Homes and Communities Agency
Operator	Ansco Arena Limited (AEG Live) Europe
Capacity	20,000[1]
Surface	Versatile
Construction
Built	2003–2007
Opened	24 June 2007
Architect	HOK Sport Now POPULOUS [2]
Structural engineer	Buro Happold
Services engineer	M-E Engineers Ltd.[3]
General contractor	Sir Robert McAlpine
Tenants
2012 Summer Olympics (2012) 2012 Summer Paralympics (2012) ATP Finals (2009–2020)
Website
theo2.co.uk

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

History

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.[2] 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 designed to reduce echoing, a problem common among older arenas used for concerts.[7]

On 18 February 2022 during Storm Eunice, large sections of the arena's fabric roof were shredded, causing the evacuation of 1,000 people, and the venue to close.[8][9] It was later announced that repair works would take place and that the arena was likely to reopen on 25 February 2022, for a UB40 concert.[10]

Events

In August 2007, rock star Prince began a series of 21 sold-out nights at the O2 Arena.[11] The record-breaking run featured many of his hits while the set list changed every night so no two shows would be the same.[12]

Beginning in July 2009, Michael Jackson was scheduled to hold a 50-show residency at the arena, titled This Is It.[13][14] However, he died on 25 June, eighteen days before the first scheduled show.[15]

The arena hosted the ATP World Tour Finals between 2009 and 2020.[16]

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.[17]

Since March 2013, the arena has hosted C2C: Country to Country, Europe's largest country music festival, which annually attracts over 20,000 fans. UK and Irish acts, as well as up-and-coming American acts, perform sets several times across various pop-up stages in and around the arena, with the main stage accessible only to ticket-holders. The seventh C2C was held on 8–10 March 2019.[18]

Ariana Grande was scheduled to perform on 25 and 26 May 2017 as part of her Dangerous Woman Tour, but the event was cancelled after the Manchester Arena bombing on 22 May. The event was not rescheduled. Grande, however, held five concerts at the arena for her Sweetener World Tour on 17, 19, and 20 August 2019 as well as 15 and 16 October 2019.[19]

On 30 November 2019, JoJo Siwa became the youngest person to perform in the O2 Arena at the age of 16, as part of her D.R.E.A.M. The Tour.[20]

On 14 May 2022, Little Mix held their The Last Show (For Now) in the O2, which was their last show before their indefinite hiatus. Along with performing there live to 20,000 they also livestreamed the show live to millions for those who could not attend The Confetti Tour.

On 15 October 2022, the O2 hosted a boxing match between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall that was the first time two female boxers headlined at a major venue in the United Kingdom.[21][22][23] Shields won, and the fight headlined the first all-female boxing card in the United Kingdom.[24]

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).

As of 2021, the O2 Arena was still the busiest music arena in the world in terms of ticket sales.[25]

World's busiest arenas, 2017[26]

Venue	Number of tickets sold
The O2 Arena, London, England, UK	1,443,232
Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US	1,167,544
Manchester Arena, Manchester, England, UK	1,072,079
OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland, UK	1,028,934
Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, US	936,794
Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany	931,394
Arena Monterrey, Monterrey, Mexico	906,290
Mexico City Arena, Mexico City, Mexico	881,665
The Forum, Inglewood, California, US	790,728
WiZink Center, Madrid, Spain	784,699

Prizes and awards

• 2016 Pollstar International Venue of the Year
• 2016 Billboard Touring Awards: Top Arena
• 2016 The London Venue Awards: Best Music Venue
• 2016 The Drum UK Event Awards: Large Venue of the Year
• 2017 Pollstar International Venue of the Year

See also

• The O2
• Millennium Dome
• Live at the O2 Arena
• List of tennis stadiums by capacity

References

External links

• Official website
• London 2012 Olympics profile

Preceded by Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena Shanghai	ATP Year-end Championships Venue 2009–2020	Succeeded by Pala Alpitour Turin
Preceded by Sinan Erdem Dome Istanbul	Euroleague Final Four Venue 2013	Succeeded by Mediolanum Forum Milan

На других языках

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[de] The O2 Arena

The O2 Arena ist eine Multifunktionsarena im südlichen Londoner Stadtteil Greenwich, Vereinigtes Königreich. Die Halle liegt am nördlichsten Punkt der Greenwich Peninsula an der Themse. Sie ist Teil des Unterhaltungskomplexes The O2. The O2 Arena ist eine der weltweit beliebtesten Veranstaltungshallen für Sportereignisse, Konzerte und Familienshows.

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- [en] The O2 Arena

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[es] The O2 Arena

The O2 Arena (estilizado como O₂), llamado The Dome popularmente y North Greenwich Arena durante los Juegos Olímpicos de Londres 2012 y los Juegos Paralímpicos de Londres 2012, es un arena multiusos ubicada en el centro de la Millennium Dome, del que ocupa el 40%, en el complejo de entretenimiento The O2. Es la segunda arena cubierta más grande del Reino Unido, detrás del Manchester Arena, pero es el recinto musical con más capacidad, superando al Madison Square Garden de Nueva York en 2008.[1]

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[fr] O2 Arena (Londres)

L'O2 Arena, aussi dénommé North Greenwich Arena dans le contexte des Jeux olympiques d'été de 2012, est une salle omnisports située dans le complexe du Dôme du millénaire (The O2) à Londres, en Angleterre.

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[ru] O2 Арена (Лондон)

Арена О2 (англ. The O2 Arena) — многоцелевой крытый стадион, расположенный в центре развлекательного комплекса The O2 на полуострове Гринвич в Юго-Восточном Лондоне (Англия). Вмещает до 23000 чел. в зависимости от события. Это одна из крупнейших крытых арен в Европе, наряду с Manchester Evening News Arena (MEN Arena), Lanxess Arena в Кёльне, Ареной Белграда и «Олимпийским» в Москве. В 2008 году O2 арена стала самым загруженным стадионом в мире, обогнав MEN Arena, бывшую крупнейшей с 2001 года[2][3].

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