F&B Sales at The O2 Increased by 16%: Main Revenue is Generated Outside the Stage at Event Venues

Revenue at large concert and entertainment venues is no longer solely derived from ticket sales. The performance of The O2 in London in August 2026 demonstrates the strong role that food and beverage operations play in the visitor economy.

According to a report by Foodservice Equipment Journal dated September 9, 2026, F&B spending in The O2's Entertainment District increased by 16% in August compared to the same period last year. During the same period, the number of visitors across the complex rose by 5%, while total sales in Outlet Shopping and the Entertainment District increased by 15%.

This difference is significant.

The increase in F&B revenue by 16% while visitor traffic grew by only 5% suggests that the growth is not solely due to more people coming. It is likely that spending per visitor, length of stay, or food and beverage usage rates have also improved.

The reported data does not separately show the contribution of these three effects. However, the result clearly illustrates how critical F&B has become as a commercial layer in event venues.

Strong Event Calendar Drives Traffic to F&B

August was a busy event month for The O2.

The official event calendar included Summer Walker, Peter Kay, Hollywood Vampires, Joji, and Ariana Grande's The Eternal Sunshine Tour concerts running from August 15 to September 1.

Foodservice Equipment Journal also highlights Ariana Grande's sold-out European residency as one of the key reasons for the strong visitor traffic.

Large concerts create a special sales window for F&B.

Visitors often arrive at the venue one or two hours before the event starts. After the concert, a certain portion may stay for food, drinks, or social activities.

Therefore, even if the concert lasts two hours, the commercial visit duration can extend to four or five hours.

This is where the main revenue opportunity arises.

The O2 Does Not Position Itself Solely as an Arena

The O2's model is not a classic event facility built around a single arena.

In addition to over 30 bars and restaurants within the complex, there are retail, cinema, and various entertainment activities. The official information from The O2 shows that the restaurant portfolio includes both seated concepts and grab-and-go options like Chipotle, Five Guys, KFC, Wasabi, German Doner Kebab, and Slim Chickens.

This mix can cater to visitors' different time and budget needs.

A customer arriving 20 minutes before the concert may prefer quick service, while another arriving two hours before the event can dine in a full-service restaurant.

Offering different service speeds instead of a uniform F&B model creates opportunities to capture more spending from the same visitor pool.

Grab-and-go Has Been Growing Strongly for Years

The 16% increase in 2026 is not an isolated trend.

The O2's results for 2024 also indicated that grab-and-go F&B sales increased by 14% compared to the previous year. That year, the complex hosted over 10 million visitors, and total sales from retail, entertainment, and F&B grew by 6%.

This scenario highlights the importance of the quick service format in major event destinations.

In high visitor volumes, the customer's primary need is often speed before gastronomic exploration.

A few minutes delay in ordering can lead a customer to abandon the purchase altogether due to fear of being late for the event.

Thus, service time in festival, stadium, and arena F&B directly translates to sales capacity.

Throughput is as Important as the Menu

In a regular restaurant, kitchen performance can be planned around the number of tables and reservation flow.

In businesses around the arena, demand comes in much sharper waves.

For example, if a concert starts at 8:00 PM, thousands of visitors may search for food simultaneously between 6:00 PM and 7:30 PM. Once the event starts, traffic can drop dramatically.

This structure requires the kitchen to be designed based on maximum order capacity in a short time frame rather than "average daily sales."

From a foodservice equipment perspective, quick cooking systems, hot holding capacity, self-service points, mobile ordering, and prep areas are therefore critical.

In the case of The O2, the faster growth of F&B sales compared to visitor traffic throughout the month indicates that these intense demand windows are being more effectively leveraged; however, public data does not show how much of this comes from pricing, quantity, or product mix.

Tenant Mix is Part of the Revenue Strategy

New restaurant brands continue to be added to the Entertainment District.

Foodservice Equipment Journal notes that Maki & Ramen is one of the newly added F&B brands. The official site of The O2 indicates that the establishment operates daily from 11:30 AM to 10:00 PM, offering a menu focused on ramen and sushi.

The issue here is not just renting an empty shop.

In major destinations, tenant mix, or the combination of brands and categories, can directly affect the time visitors spend in the area.

The presence of quick service, full-service restaurants, desserts, bars, and various world cuisines captures different customer needs.

If the portfolio is filled with very similar products, businesses may compete for the same customer, limiting the total spending at the destination.

The right category mix can create complementary sales moments.

Creating Sales Before and After the Event

The most valuable aspect of The O2 model is its ability to encourage customers to spend not only during the event but also in the hours surrounding it.

Foodservice Equipment Journal reports that the combination of live entertainment, restaurants, retail, and leisure contributes to visitors staying longer at the venue and increasing spending.

This approach can also be applied to major concerts, congresses, fairs, and sports complexes in Turkey.

If a visitor only comes for the event and leaves immediately, the economic value around the facility remains limited.

If options for dining before the event and drinks, shopping, or entertainment afterward are offered, the total spending of the same visitor increases.

Therefore, one of the key indicators of the event economy should not only be the number of tickets but also total spending per visitor.

Event Location for F&B Brands Requires Different Calculations

Opening a store around an arena may seem attractive due to high visitor volume for a restaurant or café.

However, fluctuating demand poses a separate risk.

Sales may weaken on non-event days. On event days, staff and kitchen capacity may be insufficient.

Thus, the financial model of the business should consider the event calendar rather than just the total monthly visitor count.

How many major concerts are there? How many family events? What is the weekday traffic like? At what time does the average event visitor use the restaurant?

These questions can affect everything from rental decisions to shift planning.

The O2's advantage is its ability to create additional demand during non-event hours with cinema, retail, and leisure offerings outside the arena.

Staff Planning Determines Sales Opportunities

Another condition for sustaining the 16% growth in F&B sales is employee capacity.

If there are not enough cashiers, baristas, kitchen, and service staff during sudden peaks, physical visitor traffic does not convert to revenue.

Staffing plans in arena businesses should be tied to the event calendar rather than a fixed weekly shift.

While more staff is needed on a big concert night, maintaining the same crew on a quiet Monday can reduce labor efficiency.

Therefore, event forecasting should include not only security or ticket operations but also F&B human resources input.

Menu Engineering Works Differently

Not every product is equally valuable during peak event times.

A low-margin dish that takes eight minutes to prepare can consume a lot of kitchen capacity.

In contrast, a product that can be prepared in two minutes and provides a strong contribution margin may be more valuable during busy hours.

Thus, production time should be added to classic menu engineering.

Is the product profitable? Is it popular? And how many seconds or minutes of capacity does it use during peak hours?

The third question is particularly important in arena and festival F&B.

Tenant Investment Continues

In 2026, a total of 38,972 ft² tenant investment was reported in the Outlet Shopping and Entertainment District areas at The O2.

This data shows that the facility management does not view the restaurant, retail, and leisure mix merely as a byproduct of existing event traffic.

New businesses are being added to increase the time visitors spend at the venue and their potential spending.

The first permanent entertainment concept in the UK, planned to open in 2026 by Guinness World Records, is also part of this diversification strategy. According to the official statement from The O2, approximately 25,000 ft² will combine games, challenges, F&B, and retail.

This indicates that the lines are becoming increasingly blurred in event destinations.

The venue is no longer just a place to watch concerts; it is a commercial ecosystem where food, shopping, and experiences are sold together.

What Should Event Businesses in Turkey Measure?

The most actionable lesson that can be drawn from The O2 example is to measure visitor numbers and F&B revenue separately.

For instance, a festival may have hosted 100,000 visitors last year and 110,000 this year.

This alone does not indicate a 10% increase in commercial success.

If per capita food and beverage spending increased from 200 TL to 260 TL, the operation may have performed much stronger.

Conversely, if visitor numbers increase while per capita spending decreases, there may be issues with queues, pricing, product mix, or service capacity.

Therefore, event businesses should at least monitor per capita F&B spending, transaction counts, average basket size, service times, product-based margins, and peak hour sales capacity.

Stafflink’s Perspective

The most significant aspect of The O2's August results is not the 16% increase in F&B sales but that it occurred with only a 5% increase in visitors.

In our view, this difference shows that the main opportunity in event venues is not just to bring in more people.

Ensuring that the same visitor stays longer at the venue, finds it easier to order, and discovers different F&B options that suit their needs can have a much greater impact on revenue.

Food and beverage should no longer be seen as a necessary support service for concert halls, stadiums, exhibition centers, or festival operations.

With the right product mix, quick service, and operations planned according to the event calendar, F&B can become a strong commercial engine alongside ticket revenue.