O2 Arena Seeks To Continue Growth In Build Up To '12 Olympics

After Being Called A "Flop," London's $1.33B O2 Arena Is Finding Success

London's O2 Arena "has been called a white elephant" and a $1.33B (all figures U.S.) "flop, but the Government's once-maligned Millennium Dome has, finally, after years of growing pains, come of age," according to Fiona Hamilton of the LONDON TIMES. The arena is now "one of Britain's best-known venues and arguably the world's most popular, having sold almost four times the number of tickets" as MSG last month. AEG Europe President & CEO David Campbell, whose company owns the facility, noted that the arena had 177 events this year, up 26.4% from 140 last year. But Campbell added that the "success story can be greater still." Campbell: "We're trying to get into more and more different areas. The key to making a building like this work, and making money out of it, is being highly flexible -- you've got to be able to adapt for everything." Hamilton noted that "means, inevitably, the Olympic Games, looming even larger, in 2012." AEG Europe "has an ambitious programme of expansion being embarked upon in the lead-up to the Games." There are "plans for a 'first-class'" 450-room hotel on the site, which would provide what would be London's "largest conference and banquet area." AEG "hopes to gain final planning permission by the spring and have it built in time for the Olympics." There also is a "foray into opera next May, with the O2 set to stage three performances of 'Carmen.'" Meanwhile, Campbell "hopes that eventually the venue will host an NBA basketball team." Campbell: "We already host one game a year but our next stage is to try and get regular season NBA games here, before then getting all the way to having a permanent team" (LONDON TIMES, 11/9).