Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis For Week Ending 02/02/2014 With Overall Ticket Sales Plummeting During Superbowl 48.


Superbowl Goes Off Like A Damp Squib

According to the Broadway League, the 2014 Superbowl 48 in New Jersey fails to ignite Broadway ticket sales in New York City and actually kept many Broadway fans away from New York city when compared to the last ten years of sales during the same week.

New York City was busy with many Super Bowl fans milling around, hotels completely sold out, many Super Bowl parties and the NFL awards were at Radio City Music Hall the night before the Super Bowl but very few of these visitors actually went to see a Broadway show - The demographic just didn't fit and Broadway producers failed to sell the dream.

Big Drop In Broadway Ticket Sales

Broadway overall ticket sales plummeted by nearly two and a half million dollars, falling from $19,122,428 down to $16,714,694, which was a unexpected shock to many shows, but with little history on this kind of event it was hard one to predict. Even top selling shows like The Lion King took a big hit from a 98.71% capacity just last week, capacity decreased 10% the week of the Super Bowl.

Though there were plenty of tourists in town, apparently not enough football fans also have a love for Broadway. What may have taken an even bigger toll was that many locals decided to avoid the Times Square area entirely during the week leading up to the big game, when several blocks of Broadway were turned into an interactive Superbowl celebration.

Broadway Ticket Sales Compared To Last Year

We can see a similar decrease in Broadway tickets sales from the 2013 Super Bowl XLVII. Last year, Broadway grossed a total of $16,564,313 in Broadway ticket sales with 22 shows running. This year, Broadway grossed a total of $16,714,694 in Broadway ticket sales with 26 shows running.

This is far less than expected considering there are an additional four Broadway shows this year. With the 2014 Super Bowl being at the Metlife Stadium, one would think the significant increase in the amount of tourists would help Broadway break free from this annual cycle; however, the numbers do not lie. Maybe the Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square (Broadway from 34th Street to 47th Street) occupied tourists during this time.

"The Book Of Mormon" Tops The Chart

The highest-grossing show this week was The Book of Mormon, which, despite most of Broadway's deep financial freeze this week, had no problem selling out and earning $1,641,717. Wicked came in second with $1,403,247, followed by Disney's The Lion King, rounding out third place with $1,293,167. Kinky Boots was the only other Broadway show to make over a million, bringing in $1,173,857.

The following are the Broadway ticket numbers for the week ending February 2, 2014:
Broadway Show Ticket Sales Analysis
Show GrossGross Total Attn %Cap AvgPdAdm
A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER $420,646 5,472 75.41% $76.87
A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN $231,225 3,254 48.42% $71.06
AFTER MIDNIGHT $584,044 6,983 84.25% $83.64
BEAUTIFUL $745,443 7,158 87.21% $104.14
BRONX BOMBERS $137,015 4,470 72.75% $30.65
CHICAGO $340,481 4,643 53.74% $73.33
CINDERELLA $508,604 7,482 53.41% $67.98
JERSEY BOYS $538,710 5,760 58.63% $93.53
KINKY BOOTS $1,173,857 10,421 91.48% $112.64
MACHINAL $196,201 3,192 62.72% $61.47
MAMMA MIA! $343,596 5,291 56.72% $64.94
MATILDA $969,639 10,910 95.23% $88.88
MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL $978,954 9,694 80.41% $100.99
NEWSIES $568,494 7,678 80.99% $74.04
NO MAN’S LAND/WAITING FOR GODOT $536,711 6,337 73.82% $84.69
ONCE $552,672 6,331 74.73% $87.30
OUTSIDE MULLINGAR $317,000 4,648 89.38% $68.20
PIPPIN $614,740 6,780 85.61% $90.67
ROCK OF AGES $289,178 3,494 74.91% $82.76
THE BOOK OF MORMON $1,641,717 8,724 102.30% $188.18
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY $337,841 5,826 81.68% $57.99
THE GLASS MENAGERIE $462,224 5,246 84.29% $88.11
THE LION KING $1,293,167 12,063 88.70% $107.20
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA $622,287 8,839 68.84% $70.40
TWELFTH NIGHT/RICHARD III $907,006 8,586 102.12% $105.64
WICKED $1,403,247 13,810 95.43% $101.61
Totals: $16,714,694 183,092 77.81% $86.04
Broadway ticket sales raw data are provided courtesy of The Broadway League All other data, text, opinion, charts and commentary are copyright © 2013 nytix.com