Keeping It Fair - Success at the Hamilton Onsale in Philadelphia
7/18/19
On Tuesday, July 9, 2019, The Shubert Organization and Telecharge took on the task of putting Hamilton on sale to the general public for a 12-week run at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia.
With tens of thousands of tickets to sell, we had a lot of inventory to move in a short amount of time. More importantly, we wanted to ensure that the shopping experience was smooth and that the majority of inventory went to real fans (not bots and brokers).
After various Broadway Philadelphia subscriber and member presales, the day was upon us. Here’s what we did to make sure it was successful… and fair:
The best news? Everyone benefits. Starting with the fall season, shows opening in Telecharge venues will have the ability to register and verify patrons. We’re excited to introduce this new patron-focused platform to get the most fans possible in our seats.
For more information on The Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.
With tens of thousands of tickets to sell, we had a lot of inventory to move in a short amount of time. More importantly, we wanted to ensure that the shopping experience was smooth and that the majority of inventory went to real fans (not bots and brokers).
After various Broadway Philadelphia subscriber and member presales, the day was upon us. Here’s what we did to make sure it was successful… and fair:
- REGISTRATION & VERIFICATION: We kept ticket limits strict—four tickets per household—and had customers register for the chance to buy a ticket. This gave us the opportunity to use our certification software to weed out duplicate, bogus, or nefarious registrations and only open up the onsale to legitimate customers.
- SINGLE-USE CODES: Those legit customers were emailed a one-time-use code on the morning of the onsale which allowed them (and only them) to purchase up to four tickets online or by phone. After the initial 9:00 rush, we sent more codes to customers on several waitlists.
- ONLINE WAITING ROOM: In order to accommodate tens of thousands of customers at the same time, we implemented a queueing system. Any customers waiting at 9am were assigned a random queue number to make sure that is was fair and efficient.
- BOX OFFICE WRISTBANDS: This was our most low-tech solution, but at the box office, we handed out colored wristbands corresponding to a purchase time. People lined up in the morning, picked their wristband randomly out of a bag, and came back to purchase at their assigned time. Customers didn’t have to stand in line all day, and brokers couldn’t pack the front of the line with their employees.
The best news? Everyone benefits. Starting with the fall season, shows opening in Telecharge venues will have the ability to register and verify patrons. We’re excited to introduce this new patron-focused platform to get the most fans possible in our seats.
For more information on The Shubert Organization, visit www.shubert.nyc.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.