Head of Ticketing – AO Arena 

I always say that ticketing comes with a lot of perks. You make great friends along the way, and you get to see things most people never get the chance to experience. Working in live events means that if you’re into music, sport, or entertainment, just being around these shows is a perk in itself. 

I’m Kane, Head of Ticketing at the AO Arena. I look after the whole ticketing team, and it’s one of the most unique functions in the business because we work with so many different departments — food and beverage, hospitality, programming, finance, operations. We also work really closely with event organisers and promoters to help bring these amazing shows to life. 

A big part of what we do is helping promoters understand the ticketing potential of their event. At our arena, shows can range from 6,000capacity events to full sellouts, and the revenue can go from a few hundred thousand pounds to well over a million. Managing that scale is a huge responsibility. 

Even though we have offices upstairs, the real working environment is inside the arena itself — in the bowl, where thousands of customers come through and the atmosphere is electric. It’s pretty unique to have a workplace that includes a stage and a world famous artist performing just metres away. 

In terms of qualifications, ticketing roles don’t usually require a degree. What you really need is strong numerical ability. I deal with a lot of manifests, and with more than 20,000 seats in the arena, that’s a huge amount of inventory to manage. Settlements, allocations, and seat maps all rely on good maths skills. 

It’s also a very client facing role. I work with promoters, artist reps, and other stakeholders all the time, so you need to be confident, personable, and comfortable engaging with people backstage. You really do have to be a bit of a social butterfly in this job.