AXS ticketing director Paul Newman
Eventim , Ticketzone , See Tickets and Gigantic to instantly receive and access their tickets through The O2 ’ s venue app , which was built by Realife Tech .
Touts have also been squeezed out at The O2 due to the digital tickets having QR codes that refresh every 59 seconds , meaning that the loophole for screenshotting digital tickets has been closed . Meanwhile , AXS Official Resale technology provides the option to resell tickets at face value with a cap of no more than 10 % above the original price paid .
Newman says that AXS ’ s longstanding affiliation with The O2
“ If you can run the ticketing for The O2 you can do the ticketing for any arena in the UK , probably worldwide , because it ’ s so complex ”
– Paul Newman
has paid significant dividends : “ When we ’ re talking to prospective clients , the fact that we run the ticketing for The O2 is massive for us because if you can run the ticketing for The O2 you can do the ticketing for any arena in the UK , probably worldwide , because it ’ s so complex – with the suites and the VIP club and varying levels of premium that they have .”
Staying ahead The UK arena landscape has been transformed since the unveiling of The O2 in 2007 , with the arrival of new buildings and existing venues being thoroughly overhauled , but continual investment in the East London venue has helped maintain its market position .
“ We invest in the venue every year rather than waiting for one big moment ,” says Sayer . “ We have made investments on level one and level four to improve the bars and the concession areas , we ’ ve upgraded our backstage facilities a couple of times and continued to upgrade the Wi-Fi network .”
He says forthcoming changes include the fitting of a new “ arenamotion ” central LED display ribbon circling the arena bowl that can be synched to show productions , and an upgraded content management system . There are also enhancements in the pipeline to the premium offering , including the creation of a “ super club ” at suite level .
“ We are talking to promoters , agents and artists about opportunities to improve the backstage experience ; that ’ s really important to us ,” says Sayer . “ We ’ re also looking at developing our premium offering . Since we came back from the pandemic the appetite for VIP experiences and premium experiences is really strong and we want to capitalise on that .”
Down to earth Langford and Sayer speak passionately about the need to reduce the 20,000-capacity venue ’ s environmental impact . Initiatives include the use of recyclable paper cups and recycled PET fabric wristbands to reduce single-use plastic consumption . Plastic bags have been removed from merchandise units , and water dispensers for fans are being installed for visitors who are encouraged to bring soft , reusable bottles .
The O2 has been working to gain AGF ’ s A Greener Arena
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