Steve Sayer recently celebrated its 10th anniversary at The O2, London's European-owned and operated arena that consistently ranks among the world's top-grossing concert venues. In 2023, the 21,000-capacity building grossed $220 million from 188 performances, placing it second only to Madison Square Garden (MSG), which grossed $223 million. Advertising sign's Top Country Chart (15,001 + capacity). In terms of total attendance, The O2 is a world leader, welcoming a record 2.4 million people through its doors last year (600,000 more than MSG), according to figures reported on Billboard Boxscore, justifying the title of “the most popular in the world”. music venue.”
This year looks set to be just as busy, with the O2 recently hosting sell-out shows by Bring Me the Horizon, Take That, Depeche Mode and The 1975, as well as the three-day Country 2 Country (C2C) festival and the 2024 Brit Awards. Upcoming bookings include J Balvin, Doja Cat, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, four shows by Liam Gallagher and six shows by The Killers.
“We're making huge money for the artists, selling incredible numbers of tickets and we're continuing to invest and innovate to make sure fans have a great time,” says Sayer, who joined The O2 in 2014 as commercial director before being promoted to VP /GM of the arena four years later.
As well as overseeing the day-to-day management of the venue, which first opened in 2007, Sayer is responsible for operations at the wider O2 complex, which also includes a second 2,800-capacity venue, a 210,000 sq ft designer retail store, a cinema with 19 screens and more than 30 bars and restaurants. “We're certainly not resting on our laurels,” says Sayer. “We want to continue to be the first.”
Here, Sayer discusses dynamic ticketing, the skyrocketing cost of putting on shows, his opposition to a proposed Sphere venue in London and more.
Steve Sayer
Courtesy photo
This year marks 10 years at The O2. What were some of the biggest highlights and challenges during that time?
There have been so many highlights and so many challenges. It sounds cliche now, but a global pandemic and the shutdown of live industry for 18 months has been an incredible challenge for everyone. We have almost 200 [staff] which I'm responsible for and I guess what I'm most proud of is leading the team through this period, minimizing a very small number of redundancies and probably coming out the other end stronger than we've ever been.
How has the pandemic changed the live and arena scene?
Ticket buying behavior has definitely changed in terms of late purchase. There has also been a clear shift in the number of shows being booked within weeks and months of the show opening. Before the pandemic, we would have very good visibility for 12 to 18 months [ahead] in terms of what's on the calendar. We still have it to a large extent, but 20% of our shows are now short and that's been a real change.
What do you see as some of the biggest problems facing the live music business?
One of them is sustainability. We are fully aware of our responsibilities and we work with all our stakeholders across the industry and push hard for this. I would be remiss not to mention general cost inflation, which affects every part of the living ecosystem. Our energy costs are significantly higher than they were four years ago, and it's only going one way. Wage inflation has gone through the roof: double-digit growth over the past two years. The cost of performances and venues is significantly higher than ever before and this is a challenge to try to manage and mitigate. Another challenge is the [health of] the wider live music ecosystem. While O2 has been incredibly successful, we know that the UK grassroots sector is going through tougher times. We are aware of the importance of a vibrant ecosystem that fuels sustained success for all of us.
Last month, a parliamentary committee called for a new voluntary tax to be added to arena and stadium tickets sold in the UK to support grassroots fighting venues. Is this something O2 supports?
It's something we've talked about within the industry. One thing we need to understand about levy [is concerned] it's exactly what is legally allowed when you start thinking about competition rules and unilaterally adding contributions to the price of a ticket. But it's certainly something we're actively exploring and it's something we're talking about in our own business.
Unlike the United States, the UK live music market has so far been generally resistant to the introduction of dynamic ticketing, where prices are set according to demand. Can you see it changing?
My view is that you will see more dynamic prices in the UK. It will be an interesting challenge. It is well understood in Europe that for travel and hotels you pay a different price based on demand. We didn't have that in [U.K.] entertainment or in the field of live or even really in sports, but apparently, it is commonplace in the US and North America. My point is that on certain shows and certain artists, it will start to creep in. It's just a question of over what period of time and to what extent. Are we talking about a relatively small number of gated tickets? Or are we talking about the entire manifesto? That's the big question.
AEG strongly opposed MSG's proposals to build a Sphere concert stage in East London, not far from where The O2 is based. Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE), which is owned by James Dolan, withdrew those plans in January after opposition from London Mayor Sadiq Khan.Was it a big win for the O2?
The thing about the Sphere that we've always been pretty open about is — it's not about competition. Competition is healthy. We are constantly looking at what other venues, festivals and other industries are doing and what we can learn. There was great local opposition to the Sphere [in London]. The local residents did not want the light pollution. Las Vegas is a very different city and a completely different environment to East London. All along we've said, “We're not against competition in the live music industry.” But this was the wrong design in the wrong location in our view and that was that [London] the Mayor also concluded.
There are lessons to be learned from the high-profile teething problems at the Oak View Group-owned Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, the UK's biggest concert venue, which finally opened last month after a series of costly delays and cancellations ; And what impact do you think the arrival of a major new stage in the UK will have on the wider business?
Building and opening a space of any scale presents various challenges and only highlights the importance of meticulous planning, thorough preparation and engagement with key stakeholders throughout the process, right up to opening day. There is always a lot we can learn from new venues, but we don't rest on our laurels. We will continue to invest in The O2. This year we are upgrading our Wi-Fi. We are embarking on a two-year program to refurbish all of our backstage areas. We continue to look at what we can do on the sustainability front, so in the back of the house we operate as efficiently as we can. It's a good time to be in the industry because while there are challenges, the market outlook is undoubtedly strong.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-o2-arena-gm-sphere-london-opposition-increasing-costs/
