Undeniably, 2024 was a year packed full of major events and venue openings. We take a look back at some of the biggest stories of the past 12 months…
Co-op Live, the UK’s largest live entertainment arena, staged its first event in May but the venue’s opening was not without its issues.
The Manchester arena was due to open on April 23 with a show from comedian Peter Kay, but the event was postponed due to issues relating to the venue’s power supply. More postponements soon followed.
Co-op Live finally opened on May 14 with a performance from local band Elbow. Since then, the arena has staged a string of concerts, along with WWE and UFC events.
It was a big year for the live music scene in Manchester, with Oasis announcing in August that they would be reuniting for a stadium tour of UK and Ireland, some 16 years after the band split.
Oasis will play shows in Cardiff, London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin next summer, with other shows in Europe, Asia, North America, South America and Australia also planned.
The on-sale process for the UK and Ireland shows proved controversial, with the UK’s competition watchdog launching an investigation into whether Ticketmaster breached consumer rights rules with its ‘dynamic pricing’ model.
Co-op Live was not the only new arena that opened this year, as the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers moved into the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome.
The arena, which was built at a cost of $2bn, staged back-to-back Bruno Mars concerts in August before Clippers fans got their first glimpse of the venue in October during a preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Inglewood venue has set out a mission statement of “redefining what it means to be the best arena in the world”, with features including ‘The Wall’, which offers 51 uninterrupted rows of seats for 4,500 fans.
Two of sport’s biggest events took place this summer, as the Olympics headed to Paris and Germany hosted UEFA Euro 2024.
The Paris 2024 opening ceremony set a first for an Olympics as it was held outside of a traditional stadium environment, with hundreds of thousands of fans lining the River Seine to watch the unique event.
The ambitious ceremony featured performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, with the latter helping to close out the show from the Eiffel Tower. Some 85 boats were used to carry 6,800 athletes along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.
Meanwhile, Euro 2024 generated an economic impact of €7.442bn for Germany and its 10 host cities, according to a study conducted by Nielsen Sports on behalf of UEFA.
The 51 matches staged from June 14 to July 14 were attended by 2.7 million spectators. Spain won the tournament with a 2-1 victory over England in the final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion.
In August, a huge deal for the stadium and events sector was concluded as Legends completed its takeover of ASM Global.
The announcement came after a deal was initially agreed in November 2023. Legends and ASM Global said the takeover will create the world’s “preeminent premium live events company dedicated to providing fans with outstanding experiences globally”.
