Report: Bumper year for European/UK arenas with 14m ticket sales

Image: Rolling Stones at O2 Arena

European and UK arenas had a bumper year in 2015, with over 14 million tickets sold over 12 months.

The study came from combined data from the European Arenas Association (EAA) and the UK’s National Arenas Association (NAA). It covered 49 venues across 19 European and the UK countries.

Music remained the major draw. The EAA revealed that 7 million music fans attended 861 performances in 27 countries. The NAA said that of the 12.7 million which attended their venues, 7.7 million were music lovers going to 1,111 music events. 

The venues include London’s O2, Hamburg’s Barclay Arena, Munich’s Olympiapark, Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi, Berlin’s Mercedes Benz Arena, Prague’s O2 Arena, Oslo’s Telenor Arena, Dublin’s 3Arena and The SSE Hydro in Glasgow.

The top tier music venue scene is getting more congested as more venues open. But its challenges grow with the finite pool of headline acts and more international acts preferring to use the continent’s festival circuit. Hosting personal appearances by YouTube stars and gaming competitions has been an obvious trend. So have significant venue upgrades and a greater stress on security measures.