Broadway's Top Heavy 2017-2018 Season
6/21/18
After reading David Rooney’s recent article about the 17-18 Season in The Hollywood Reporter, we started to ponder the health of Broadway. Rooney is correct, Broadway is undeniably stronger this season than last season, mostly due to the success of hot-ticket super shows. For the first time in history, the average show’s weekly gross is greater than $1M.
Rooney does caution about attendance numbers—that the higher grosses reflect “premium” pricing and not increased attendance. And he’s right that the average ticket price is up 16% from last season ($104.07 to $120.33). Take out Springsteen, and the average ticket price is still up 9% to $113.49.
And while demand for hot-ticket shows is driving up average ticket prices and setting new weekly gross records, not every show on Broadway can be a mega hit. So has the strength at the top translated into any help for the bottom?
As Rooney pointed out, Broadway grossed more than $1.66B this past season—an increase of $240M or 17.11% from the year before. However, looking at which shows account for this increase, the top ten shows account for 68% of the change. With an average of 31 shows each week, that means the rest only account for 32% of the increase. And again, removing Springsteen, it’s still 57% for the top ten and 43% for the rest.
Going back to the 16% increase in ticket prices, we see the same effect. The average ticket price for the top 10 shows is up 32%, and the top five are up to $220.70 or 42% more than last year. Below the top ten, the average ticket price went up just 4% over last season. Sure, 4% still outpaces inflation, but it puts the meteoric increase into perspective.
So as we get into the next Broadway season, we can definitively say that Broadway is much stronger than it was the year before, even when we look past Springsteen’s impact on grosses. But it’s very important to remember that for most shows, the improvement over last year will be softer.
For more information on the Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Rooney does caution about attendance numbers—that the higher grosses reflect “premium” pricing and not increased attendance. And he’s right that the average ticket price is up 16% from last season ($104.07 to $120.33). Take out Springsteen, and the average ticket price is still up 9% to $113.49.
And while demand for hot-ticket shows is driving up average ticket prices and setting new weekly gross records, not every show on Broadway can be a mega hit. So has the strength at the top translated into any help for the bottom?
As Rooney pointed out, Broadway grossed more than $1.66B this past season—an increase of $240M or 17.11% from the year before. However, looking at which shows account for this increase, the top ten shows account for 68% of the change. With an average of 31 shows each week, that means the rest only account for 32% of the increase. And again, removing Springsteen, it’s still 57% for the top ten and 43% for the rest.
Going back to the 16% increase in ticket prices, we see the same effect. The average ticket price for the top 10 shows is up 32%, and the top five are up to $220.70 or 42% more than last year. Below the top ten, the average ticket price went up just 4% over last season. Sure, 4% still outpaces inflation, but it puts the meteoric increase into perspective.
So as we get into the next Broadway season, we can definitively say that Broadway is much stronger than it was the year before, even when we look past Springsteen’s impact on grosses. But it’s very important to remember that for most shows, the improvement over last year will be softer.
For more information on the Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.