Detailed list of the top online Broadway show ticket vendors analyzing company backgrounds, website design, ease of use, and methods of selling tickets.


With just 40 theatres on Broadway, show producers have a myriad of ways to sell their tickets and ticket buyers respond by purchasing the top show tickets for extraordinary amounts, while many less-popular shows may stumble. Everyone from theatre aficionados to New York City tourists want the chance to experience the Great White Way, but newcomers may find the task of procuring tickets to be daunting. It seems like everyday a new ticket vendor establishes their online presence, making the choice of who to purchase tickets from all the more difficult. In order to aid in the decision process of the average Broadway consumer, below is a list of the top online Broadway ticket vendors. The list has details on the background of each company in charge of the website, the design and ease of use, and which approach each website takes towards selling tickets. Finally as a general disclaimer, this list is not compiled to suggest which online vendors are better than others, but simply to discuss the most virtually omnipresent vendors.

1. Telecharge.com - The Shubert Organization

Telecharge

Company Background

  • Oldest and largest theatre company in America
  • Owner of 17 Broadway theatres and their associated ticketing website
  • Also owns the websites Broadway Inbound for group purchases, and Plum Benefits for corporate users

Website

  • Covers both on/off Broadway shows
  • Handles ticket lotteries

User Experience

  • Extremely outdated website - difficult to use
  • Overly complicated filter system compared to competitors
  • Poor design that somehow makes an average amount of info seem like an information overload

Type of Company

  • Primary ticket source for theatres owned by the Shubert Organization
  • Offer face value tickets with a service charge of $8-15

2. Ticketmaster.com - Live Nation

Ticket Master

Company Background

  • Founded in 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona but merged with Live Nation in 2010
  • Despite controversies and investigations, the company has continued to grow and become more prominent in the ticketing marketplace since its inception
  • The company is known for buying out much of its competition, such as their acquisition of Ticketron in 1991
  • In 2015, they acquired Front Gate Tickets, the ticketing service for festivals like Lollapalooza

Website

  • Smooth and sleek design
  • Large theatre selection outside of Broadway shows

User Experience

  • Easy to use and well organized
  • Must create/sign in to account to buy tickets
  • Mobile app with similar functionality as the website
  • Can filter shows by genre, date, and distance

Type of Company

  • Primary ticket source for Broadway theatres not owned by the Shubert or Nederlander Organizations
  • Does not specialize in Broadway shows
  • Uses two systems of selling tickets:
    • Face value tickets can be purchased with slight fees, often less than $30
    • Resale tickets can purchased but with much larger service fees generally around 20% of the ticket price

3. Broadwaydirect.com - Nederlander Productions

Broadway Direct

Company Background

  • Nederlander owns many theatres on Broadway and uses their website to promote/sell tickets
  • Started in Detroit with acquisition of the Detroit Opera House in 1912, and has since expanded to NYC

Website

  • Provides news, show info, lotteries, and Nederlander-owned show tickets
  • Covers both on/off Broadway shows
  • Featured shows are almost entirely Nederlander productions

User Experience

  • Sleek, clean, and easy to navigate
  • Shows can be filtered by genre only

Type of Company

  • Primary ticket source for shows in Nederlander theatres. All other ticket sales routed to other primary ticket sources.
  • Prices are face value with very low online fees (generally less than $25)

4. Broadway.com - John Gore Organization

Broadway.com

Company Background

  • Rebranded to the “John Gore Organization” in 2016. Company was formerly known as “Key Brand Entertainment”
  • Acquired “Broadway Across America” in 2008, a producer and investor in many Broadway shows
  • Acquired “Theatre Direct International” in 2010 giving them broadway.com, theatre.com and many more domains
  • A lot of other acquisitions including “Groups Sales Box Office” and Broadwaybox.com

Website

  • Broadway.com is used for ticket sales, theatre news and exclusive content
  • Covers both on/off Broadway shows
  • Offers a simple layout

User Experience

  • Show lists can be filtered by many categories (ie genre, Tony winners, off/on Broadway)
  • Calendar and seating chart make choosing dates and seats simple
  • Mobile app allowing for easy access to show information, Broadway news and tickets

Type of Company

  • Front-end Ticket Broker
  • Sells face value tickets with large service fees from 25-40%, without any clear indication of what warrants a higher service fee

5. Newyorktheatreguide.com - Encore Tickets

New York Theatre Guide .com

Company Background

  • Encore tickets is a global ticket distribution network and the UK's largest independent ticketing company
  • Encore is a primary partner to all of London’s West End theatres and producers
  • New York Theatre Guide is the company’s venture into the American theatre scene and Broadway

Website

  • Contains show tickets, reviews, news, theatre lists etc
  • Covers both on and off Broadway shows

User Experience

  • Clean and simple to use
  • Interactive maps make choosing seat simple, but seats are limited

Type of Company

  • Tickets available through partnership with broadway.com
  • Front-end broker using the broadway.com ticket inventory
  • Seat selection and prices are identical to broadway.com

6. Todaytix.com - TodayTix

Today Tix

Company Background

  • Privately held organization based out of New York City
  • Launched in 2013 by Merritt Baer and Brian Fenty, a pair of Broadway producers
  • Massive amount of funding totaling around $73 million that demands huge business growth

Website

  • Covers shows across the entire world
  • Covers both on/off Broadway shows
  • Handles just 2 ticket lottery systems on Broadway

User Experience

  • Allows the users to filter by genre, date, location, price
  • Mobile app with similar functionality to the website
  • Does not tell you where you will sit. You can pick the section but not specific seat
  • Company reps meet you outside the theatre and give you a ticket

Type of Company

  • Solely a ticket broker and distributor
  • Transparent pricing, with very small fees (less than $20)

7. Vividseats.com - Vivid Seats

Vivid Seats

Company Background

  • Privately held in Chicago, IL
  • Does not disclose financial info but is reported to be the third largest ticket reseller
  • Founded in 2001 by Jerry Bednyak and Eric Vassilatos
  • Vivid is the official ticket provider for many sports related products like ESPN and Sports Illustrated

Website

  • Decent design
  • Limited selection of Broadway shows

User Experience

  • Fairly simple to use
  • Must create an account to purchase tickets
  • Mobile friendly with the addition of the Vivid Seats app
  • Can filter results by time, venue and category

Type of Company

  • Ticket broker and marketplace - not specializing in any one field
  • Concert and sports tickets are more common among the website
  • Allows users to sell their own tickets after a screening process

8. Seatgeek.com - Seatgeek

Seat Geek

Company Background

  • Designed as a mobile-focused ticket hub to buy and sell tickets
  • Company got its start through a lot of investments, some from the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Yahoo Sports
  • Recently signed a deal to be the primary ticket office of the Dallas Cowboys

Website

  • Clean and appealing design
  • Solely for tickets
  • Only features the Broadway shows, not off-Broadway

User Experience

  • Simple to use
  • Interactive maps make choosing seats simple
  • Mobile focus allowing one to purchase tickets at any time
  • Utilizes programs to rate which seats are the best to buy based on price and location
  • You know what row you will sit it but they may not tell you what exact seat you'll have

Type of Company

  • Ticket aggregator and exchange marketplace
  • Not specializing in any one ticket type field, but sports tickets are 20% of their sales
  • Does not buy its own tickets but lists tickets from vendors
  • Claims to load ticket inventory and prices from other sources, but it is unproven

9. Stubhub.com - eBay

Stub Hub

Company Background

  • Stubhub was founded in 2000 by Stanford Business School students, Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr
  • The company has grown into the world's largest ticket marketplace with tickets available to thousands of events
  • In 2007, the company was acquired by eBay
  • Over their lifespan they had exclusive deals with teams like the Seattle Marlins and organizations like the MLB

Website

  • Features a visual representation of what the view from a seat will look like, albeit the graphic looks somewhat dated
  • Large selection of theatre shows from around the country
  • Combines theatre and stand-up comedy into one category

User Experience

  • Allows users to choose which section and side of the theatre they wish be seated
  • Mobile app with similar functionality to the website
  • Search results can be filtered by date, distance, popularity and parking accessibility

Type of Company

  • Ticket exchange marketplace
  • Does not purchase tickets to resell but operates the marketplace where people may sell their tickets to others
  • Concert and Sports tickets are much more commonly found

10. Cheaptickets.com - Orbitz Worldwide/Expedia

Cheap Tickets

Company Background

  • Orbitz is a travel fare aggregator website based out of Chicago that has been in operation since 2001
  • Originally designed to combat the rise on online travel agencies like Expedia, making it ironic that the company was purchased by Expedia in 2015

Website

  • Outdated looking website
  • Theatre, sports and concerts are melded into one section labeled Event Tickets

User Experience

  • User can filter by location and date
  • Can purchase tickets by row but not by seat

Type of Company

  • Resale marketplace - non-specialized
  • Jack-of-all-trades business that carries concerts, sports, vacation packages, hotels and Broadway Theatre

11. Broadwaybox.com - John Gore Organization

Broadway Box .com

Company Background

  • Same parent company as broadway.com
  • Website was acquired in 2012

Website

  • Has show info, reviews, news and ticket purchase options listed
  • Covers both on and off Broadway shows

User Experience

  • Straightforward and simple to navigate
  • List of shows can be filtered by genre and Tony winners
  • Offers a compatible mobile app
  • Discount code presented as soon as one opens up the show page

Type of Company

  • Ticket discounter
  • Offers Broadway show tickets at lower than face value