The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O₂ arena), is a multi-purpose indoor

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

in the centre of

the O2 The O2 is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars, and restaurants. It was built largely withi ...

entertainment complex on the

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the s ...

in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the second-highest

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of any indoor venue in the United Kingdom, behind the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

, and in 2008 was the world's busiest music arena. As of 2022, it is the ninth-largest building in the world by volume. 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 The Millennium Dome was the original name of the large dome-shaped building on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London, England, which housed a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium. As of 2022, it is the nin ...

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

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

. 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

. 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. Damage to The O2 Arena's tent caused by Storm Eunice

Damage to The O2 Arena's tent caused by Storm Eunice

On 18 February 2022 during

Storm Eunice Storm Eunice () (known as Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark) was an intense extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–2022 European windstorm season. Storm Eunice was named by the UK Met Office on 14 February 2022. A re ...

, large sections of the arena's fabric roof were shredded, causing the evacuation of 1,000 people, and the venue to close. 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.

Events

In August 2007, rock star Prince began a series of 21 sold-out nights at the O2 Arena. The record-breaking run featured many of his hits while the set list changed every night so no two shows would be the same. Beginning in July 2009,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

was scheduled to hold a 50-show residency at the arena, titled This Is It. However, he died on 25 June, eighteen days before the first scheduled show. ATP World Tour Final Tennis at The 02 Arena London

ATP World Tour Final Tennis at The 02 Arena London

The arena hosted the

ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results t ...

between 2009 and 2020. 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. Since March 2013, the arena has hosted C2C: Country to Country, Europe's largest

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

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. Ariana Grande was scheduled to perform on 25 and 26 May 2017 as part of her

Dangerous Woman Tour The Dangerous Woman Tour was the third concert tour and the second arena tour by American singer Ariana Grande in support of her third studio album, '' Dangerous Woman'' (2016). It traveled across North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and O ...

, 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 The Sweetener World Tour was the fourth concert tour and third arena tour by American singer, songwriter and actress Ariana Grande in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, ''Sweetener'' (2018) and '' Thank U, Next'' (2019). Led by Live N ...

on 17, 19, and 20 August 2019 as well as 15 and 16 October 2019. On 30 November 2019,

JoJo Siwa Joelle Joanie "JoJo" Siwa (; born May 19, 2003) is an American dancer, singer, actress and YouTuber. She is known for appearing for two seasons on '' Dance Moms'' along with her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and for her singles " Boomerang" and "Kid ...

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. 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 The Confetti Tour was the seventh concert tour held by British girl group Little Mix, in support of their sixth studio album, ''Confetti'' (2020). The tour began on 9 April 2022 at the SSE Arena in Belfast, and concluded on 14 May 2022 at The ...

. On 15 October 2022, the O2 hosted a boxing match between

Claressa Shields Claressa Maria Shields (born March 17, 1995) is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. She has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the undisputed female light middleweight title since March 20 ...

and Savannah Marshall that was the first time two female boxers headlined at a major venue in the United Kingdom. Shields won, and the fight headlined the first all-female boxing card in the United Kingdom.

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

(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.

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

References

External links

*
London 2012 Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:O2 Arena

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...