Virgin Media O2 defends arena deal as £200m price tag disputed
Virgin Media O2 has pushed back at claims it is paying around £200m to keep its name on the O2, as the heavily indebted telecoms group commits to another decade of one of Britain’s longest-running sponsorship deals.
The company and venue owner AEG have not disclosed the value of the agreement, which will keep the O2 name on the Greenwich arena and surrounding entertainment district until at least 2038.
A source close to Virgin Media O2 told City AM the reported £200m figure was “purely speculation”, and said the sponsorship continued to generate a strong return on investment for the business.
The commitment comes as the telecom giant’s owners, Liberty Global and Telefonica, are reportedly targeting around £600m of cost savings as they seek to address investor concerns over a debt pile of roughly £22bn.
O2 customers bought 1.7m tickets through its Priority Tickets programme in 2025, City AM understands, which Virgin Media O2 regards as evidence that the partnership is driving customer loyalty rather than simply buying exposure for its name.
Under the new agreement, O2 customers will get access to 50 per cent more tickets for shows at the arena through Priority, alongside pre-sale access to events at the smaller Indigo at The O2 venue for the first time.
Customer retention is particularly important for the group, after O2 lost more than 100,000 billpayers last year following a backlash over price rises.
Millennium dome to O2
The extension will take one of the UK’s best-known corporate naming deals beyond three decades.
O2 first put its name on the former Millennium Dome when the venue reopened in 2007 after AEG redeveloped the site into an entertainment complex.
Its success since then has turned what was once regarded as a risky branding bet into an unusually prominent corporate asset.
The arena sold more than 2m tickets last year and hosted 239 shows, while around 2.5m people visit the main arena annually. In 2025, the venue also delivered its strongest financial performance since opening.
Pre-tax profit rose 18 per cent to £76.5m as revenue climbed 14 per cent to £148.6m, following performances from artists including Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Katy Perry and Usher. AEG subsequently paid a £27.5m dividend to its US parent.
Reports have put Virgin Media O2’s new sponsorship at roughly £20m a year, almost 50 per cent more than under its existing agreement and more than three times the roughly £6m annual cost of the original deal. However, neither side has confirmed those figures.
The agreement was reached during an exclusivity period despite AEG attracting interest from other companies in replacing O2 as naming partner.