Manchester's Co-op Live celebrates first year with a million ticket sales

Manchester's Co-op Live arena is celebrating its first anniversary since opening - with confirmation that it has sold over a million tickets, grossing more than $110 million (almost £83m) in the process.

Opening officially in May 2024, after some earlier false starts, the live music venue is now the UK's biggest indoor arena with capacity for up to 23,500 in East Manchester.

Co-op Live bosses say that in the arena's first 12 months of operation, it sold over 1.1 million tickets after hosting 105 events.

It says it has made $115million in gross revenue in the process, placing it on the list of the biggest selling arenas in Europe in its debut year.

The O2 arena in London says their sales figures were £194million across the same time period of May 2024 - April 2025, selling 2.6million tickets across 205 events which would mean it remains the top performing venue in the UK.

The opening year for Co-op Live included 12 UK arena exclusives, including performances by global artists like the Eagles, Pearl Jam, Paul McCartney and Burna Boy.

Bosses have announced a further 150 events so far, including upcoming UK arena exclusive show runs from Chris Brown and Morrissey, and multi-night performances by Billie Eilish and Tyler The Creator.

Co-op Live will celebrate its anniversary this month with another UK arena exclusive - with a run of shows by "The Boss", Bruce Springsteen, across May 14 - 20.

The arena, built next to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, was designed with music in mind - and boasts an immersive bowl design with what are billed as "next generation acoustics".

Co-op Live's General Manager, Guy Dunstan, said: "We've got a venue here that not only the city of Manchester can be proud of, but that the UK can be proud