Millennium Dome the dome's new owners, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, to a design by HOK SVE and Buro Happold. It cost £600 million, and the resulting venue opened to the public on 24 June 2007, with a concert by rock band Bon Jovi. During the 2012 Summer Olympics, the artistic gymnastics events, along with the medal rounds of basketball, were held at The O2. It also held wheelchair basketball events during the 2012 Summer Paralympics. For sponsorship reasons, during those times the arena was temporarily renamed the North Greenwich Arena. Issues related to the Dome damaged Peter Mandelson's and John Prescott's political
The O2 due to its reputation as a failed project, being tagged as 'The White Elephant.' Since its opening, there have been signs of the press and public calling it The O2. It is currently the largest entertainment district in London. To mark its opening, AEG spent £6.5 million on a mass advertising campaign, led by VCCP, throughout Europe to promote The O2. The development took place in the form of new buildings being built inside the dome structure. The dome structure was not changed as part of the construction with the exception of blue lights being added to the support poles