O2 agrees to pay more than triple its first naming fee to keep its name on the London arena
O2 will pay about £20m a year for the naming rights to AEG's London venue until at least 2038, in what is thought to be the UK's largest renewal of its kind. The fee is priced on one arena's record run, so it says little about what other UK venues can charge.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
What happened
- The annual fee is almost 50% more than O2 pays under its current deal, which was due to expire at the end of next year.
- The venue had its best year in 2025, with pre-tax profit up 18% to £76.5m and revenue up 14% to £148.6m.
- Griffiths said the renewal was agreed within an exclusivity period, although AEG's Samuels says every renewal draws a lot of interest from other brands.
- O2 customers get 50% more priority tickets under the new deal, available 48 hours before general sale.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost With about £200m committed through 2038, the savings Virgin Media O2's owners want must come from other budgets while the contract holds.
- What it limits constraint Settling inside exclusivity gave AEG ten years of certainty and closed off any test of rival brands' bids until the contract runs out.
- Who's exposed exposure The extra priority tickets now have to show up in retention, after more than 100,000 customers left O2 over last year's price rises.
Next story · Invest · 2d ago
AT&T recovers 45% of its roughly $4.4 billion Mexico outlay in a $2 billion saleConfirmed3 publishers
As the venue's risk fell, the fee rose [19][17]. O2's first contract cost £6m a year and was signed when the future of the O2 and the surrounding site was far from certain [19]. "Everyone thought it would never work, that it was crazy building on the site of the Millennium Dome, it was considered the biggest white elephant," said Paul Samuels, president of global partnerships at AEG International [3]. "In the first deal we were talking about whether to put in clauses if the O2 couldn't hit 100 shows a year - last year we did 239," he said [2].
The new fee is about 3.3 times that first one [20]. The calendar is running at 2.39 times the 100-show floor discussed for the first deal [15]. A step of almost 50% to reach £20m implies O2 pays a little over £13m a year under the current contract [24]. All of these figures rest on an estimate. According to the Guardian, O2 is thought to be paying about £20m a year, and the deal is thought to be the largest renewal of its kind in UK history [17][16].
Set against the size of the venue, the fee is modest. Gareth Griffiths, director of partnerships and sponsorships at Virgin Media O2, said the main arena draws two and a half million people a year, and the rest of what the venue offers draws another 7.5 million [9]. On those numbers, £20m works out at about £2 a year per visitor [21]. It is roughly 13% of the venue's 2025 revenue [22].
A rights holder at another UK arena would say the O2 has just set the national rate. I'd expect owners to quote it in their next negotiations. But the figure was built on this arena's own results: a 239-show year and the best accounts in its history [2][4]. The only other UK naming deal in the record is Arsenal's, mentioned because it has run longer than O2's [7].
For Virgin Media O2, the trade-off is ten years of committed brand spending set against a savings programme. Its owners, Liberty Global and Telefonica, were reported last month to want £600m of cost cuts to calm investor fears over a £22bn debt pile [11]. The annual fee is about 3% of that target [23]. "Every pound we spend we do so very carefully," Griffiths said [12]. "Churn is still one of the most important metrics in the business, it is about keeping hold of valuable customers," he added [13]. He also said: "This is a 10-year investment in the UK ... a huge sign of intent." [14]
What to watch
- Whether AEG or Virgin Media O2 confirms the fee, since the £20m-a-year figure is so far the Guardian's understanding of the terms.
- Virgin Media O2's next customer figures, as the first read on whether the larger priority-ticket allocation moves churn.
- The next renewal at another large UK venue, and whether its price is disclosed for comparison with the O2's.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption60
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives65
- Confidence60
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
The 10-year agreement will extend O2's relationship with the venue until at least 2038.
- [2]
"In the first deal we were talking about whether to put in clauses if the O2 couldn't hit 100 shows a year - last year we did 239."
- [3]
"Everyone thought it would never work, that it was crazy building on the site of the Millennium Dome, it was considered the biggest white elephant."
- [4]
Newly published accounts show the O2 had the best year in its 19-year history in 2025, with pre-tax profits up 18% to £76.5m and revenues up 14% to £148.6m.
- [5]
Samuels said that each time the sponsorship deal nears renewal he receives a lot of interest from brands hoping to take over the naming rights.
- [6]
Gareth Griffiths of Virgin Media O2 said the deal had worked so well that it was agreed within an exclusivity period.
- [7]
The deal makes the sponsorship the second longest-running UK stadium naming rights deal after Arsenal's partnership for the football club's London ground.
- [8]
A key component of the deal is a 50% increase in the number of priority tickets made available to O2 customers, giving access to event tickets 48 hours before general sale.
- [9]
"Two-and-a-half million people come to the [main] arena each year, and 7.5 million come to everything else that is on offer."
- [10]
Last year O2 lost more than 100,000 customers after a backlash following the introduction of hefty price rises.
- [11]
Last month it was reported that VMO2's joint owners, Liberty Global and Telefonica, want to cut £600m in costs to calm investor fears over a £22bn debt pile.
- [12]
"Every pound we spend we do so very carefully."
- [13]
"Churn is still one of the most important metrics in the business, it is about keeping hold of valuable customers."
- [14]
"This is a 10-year investment in the UK ... a huge sign of intent."
- [15]
The 239 shows last year are 2.39 times the 100-show floor discussed for the first deal.
- [16]
O2 has struck a record deal, reported at £200m, to retain the naming rights to the London venue the O2, in what is thought to be the largest renewal of its kind in UK history.
- [17]
Under the deal with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), O2 is thought to be paying about £20m a year.
- [18]
The roughly £20m a year is an almost 50% increase on the annual amount under the existing deal, which was due to expire at the end of next year.
- [19]
The new annual fee is more than triple the £6m a year O2 paid in its initial 10-year deal, when the future success of the O2 and surrounding site was far from certain.
- [20]
The new annual fee of about £20m is roughly 3.3 times the £6m a year of O2's first deal.
- [21]
Griffiths' visitor figures total about 10 million a year, so the £20m fee is about £2 per visitor per year.
- [22]
The £20m annual fee equals roughly 13% of the venue's £148.6m revenue in 2025.
- [23]
The £20m annual fee is about 3% of the £600m cost-cut target reported for VMO2's owners.
- [24]
An almost 50% rise to £20m implies the current deal pays a little over £13m a year.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- cityam.comVirgin Media O2 defends arena deal as £200m price tag disputed
1 article · October 7, 2026
- theguardian.comO2 signs record £200m deal to keep London venue’s naming rights
1 article · October 6, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Telecom customer retention
- Venue naming rights
- Live entertainment business
Entities
- Anschutz Entertainment Group
- Gareth Griffiths
- Telefónica