O2 and AEG extend London arena naming rights deal through 2038

O2 and venue operator AEG announced on 7 October 2026 that O2 will keep the naming rights to The O2 in London through 2038. The 10-year extension preserves the arena’s name and promises more tickets for O2 customers through its Priority programme, while adding access to shows at the smaller indigo at The O2 venue for eligible customers.

AEG called the agreement the largest naming rights renewal of its kind in the UK. The companies described it as a multi-million-pound deal but did not disclose its exact value. The Guardian reported that it is thought to be worth about £200 million, equivalent to roughly £20 million a year. Those figures are reported estimates, rather than terms confirmed by the companies.

What changes for O2 and Virgin Media customers

Under the new agreement, the number of tickets available to O2 customers for shows at The O2 through Priority Tickets will increase by 50%, according to AEG. The announcement gives no total allocation, so the increase does not establish how many tickets will be offered for any particular show. It also does not say when the larger allocation will first become available.

O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers will gain Priority access to performances at indigo at The O2 for the first time. AEG presents the smaller venue as a place to see artists before they reach arena-scale shows. The announcement does not set out an event-by-event allocation or a start date for that access, leaving the practical effect for individual customers to be determined when shows go on sale.

How the renewal compares with the previous deal

The existing naming rights agreement was due to expire at the end of 2027, according to the Guardian. The paper estimated that the new annual fee is nearly 50% higher than the amount under that agreement. It also reported that O2 paid about £6 million a year under its original 10-year deal, signed when the success of the former Millennium Dome site was far less certain.

The Guardian reported that the extension makes the partnership the UK’s second-longest-running stadium naming rights agreement, behind Arsenal’s arrangement for its London football ground. AEG’s Paul Samuels, who was involved in the original O2 deal, told the paper that early negotiations considered provisions tied to whether the arena could reach 100 shows a year. It hosted 239 events in 2025, the Guardian reported.

Music Week also spoke to Samuels and Virgin Media O2 partnerships director Gareth Griffiths following the announcement. Griffiths told the publication that Priority Tickets had grown from about 70 tickets sold for a show in one week when the programme began in 2007 to 1.7 million tickets sold last year. That account underscores why ticket access features prominently in a deal that extends beyond the venue’s name.

The O2’s audience and next steps

The O2 opened in 2007. AEG says it has since welcomed more than 100 million visitors and hosted over 6,800 events. In its account of the partnership, AEG also points to an O2 5G network and Virgin Media broadband Wi-Fi at the venue, as well as promotions that temporarily renamed it The O3 during Drake’s seven-night residency and recreated the arena in Fortnite.

AEG reported 2.9 million arena tickets sold in 2025, an increase of 11.5% from 2024, and 239 performances, up 19%. It separately said that the wider O2 destination received more than 11 million visitors in 2025, 9.4% more than the year before, while combined retail, leisure and food-and-beverage sales rose 12%. Arena ticket sales and destination visits measure different activities.

The venue will mark its 20th anniversary in 2027. AEG says special events are already on sale and expects further announcements in the coming months. For now, customers know the naming rights will run through 2038 and that the ticket programme is due to expand. The companies have yet to publish the contract price, the payment terms or the timing and allocations for the new ticket benefits.