Does Nigeria need an O2 or Wembley arena?

The opportunity to celebrate Nigeria’s wins doesn't come around often.

However, as we showed in a previous article on the booming Nigerian tech industry, silver linings exist. The entertainment industry is one, more specifically, live performances and shows.

 

Key takeaways

  • Live performances and shows are a significant source of income for artists, accounting for over 50% or $25.6 billion of the global music industry revenue. However, hosting live shows require the proper infrastructure as support.

  • Music venues and concert infrastructures come in various sizes and capacities, such as stadiums, arenas and theatres. For Nigerian shows, organisers or promotes mostly rely on nightclubs, hotel banquet halls or parks as concert venues.

  • Since some suitable structures have either run down by poor maintenance or are not fit for purpose, developers can key into small to mid-size venues as appropriate concert infrastructure with anchor tenants to support a steady revenue inflow.

 

According to an article by the World Economic Forum, live music shows accounted for over 50% or approximately $25.6 billion of global music industry revenue before the pandemic, making it the highest revenue source for the industry. But hosting live shows requires many elements like promotion, marketing strategies, acquiring and negotiating talent and, of course, a venue. 

A bigger and better venue means that more people can attend. It also provides a better opportunity to offer special pricing schemes (e.g. VVIP or backstage passes) and a more significant potential to make a profit. 

Venues come in all sizes and types, from giant, sprawling sports stadiums like the Wembley Stadium or the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja to mid-sized arenas such as the Barclays Centre in New York to bars and lounges like Cubana nightclub in Owerri. But what does it take to build an O2 inspired arena in Nigeria? Do we even need one? Is there a market for music venues, and what are the cost implications for different venue sizes? 

Before these questions are answered, let’s start with the go-to spot for a concert-goer in Nigeria.

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