O2 will keep its name on The O2 in Greenwich until 2038 under a renewed agreement with venue owner and operator AEG. The companies announced the multi-million-pound extension on 7 October, describing it as the largest naming-rights renewal of its kind in the UK. The ten-year extension secures the brand’s place at the venue beyond the current arrangement.
The agreement also changes what customers can access. O2 says the number of tickets to The O2 shows made available through its Priority scheme will rise by 50 per cent. For the first time, O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers will also receive Priority access to performances at Indigo at The O2, the smaller venue within the Greenwich complex. The companies say the expansion is intended to connect customers with artists earlier in their careers, before some move on to arena-scale performances.
A long-running venue partnership
The deal extends a relationship that has developed alongside the venue itself. The O2 opened in 2007 on the Greenwich Peninsula, on the site formerly occupied by the Millennium Dome. AEG owns and operates the destination, which combines its main arena with Indigo, an indoor roof-walk attraction, shops, restaurants and other leisure facilities.
The main arena has a stated capacity of 23,000. The venue says it hosts more than 200 events each year and has welcomed over 100 million visitors since opening. Its wider offer means the renewal concerns more than the name above an arena entrance: it maintains a long-term commercial association across a major London leisure destination, while the customer benefits reach into ticket access and connectivity.
The companies point to earlier elements of the partnership, including mobile network infrastructure designed to support connections during busy events and high-speed broadband Wi-Fi. Those services illustrate how venue sponsorship can extend beyond branding into facilities and customer experience. The renewal provides a framework for continuing that relationship, although the announcement does not set out a detailed timetable for future technology investment or specify new service standards.
Ticket access and the live-music market
Priority has already distributed more than 3.9 million tickets for events at The O2 over the course of the partnership, according to the companies. The additional allocation is therefore an expansion of an existing benefit, rather than a new general ticketing system. The announcement does not say how the extra tickets will be divided between events, when they will become available, or whether every show will participate. Customers will still need to check the terms for individual performances.
Access to Indigo broadens the scheme to a different scale of performance. With a stated capacity of 2,750, it hosts shows in a more intimate setting than the arena. The new benefit could give customers another route to see live performances, while the venue’s stated aim is to support artists at an earlier stage. It does not guarantee that particular performers will later appear in the arena, nor does the agreement itself announce a programme of acts.
The companies have described the agreement as multi-million-pound but have not published a confirmed total. The announcement therefore establishes the length of the renewed partnership and its broad customer benefits, rather than providing a complete account of the financial terms. A precise contract value cannot be stated from the disclosed information.
Looking towards the twentieth anniversary
The extension was announced ahead of The O2’s twentieth anniversary in 2027. Some anniversary performances are already on sale, with more events expected to be announced, but the naming-rights agreement is a long-term commercial commitment rather than an anniversary event in itself. The central change is the continuation of O2’s venue naming rights through 2038, coupled with a larger Priority ticket allocation and newly included access to Indigo.
For London’s live-entertainment sector, the announcement offers a clear example of how an arena partnership can combine naming rights, customer loyalty benefits and venue infrastructure. Its practical value to fans will depend on which shows take part and how the expanded ticket access is delivered. The companies have set out the broad benefits, while details such as event-by-event availability remain to be seen.
