2017/18 Tourist VISIT data of New York and Broadway

Zip code figures from Broadway ticket sales have revealed that 7 of the ‘Top 20’ counties represented come from outside of the NYC metropolitan area.

These areas are Broward, FL; Fairfield, CT; Los Angeles, CA; Mercer, NJ; Miami-Dade, FL; Monmouth, NJ and Montgomery, PA.

Comparing the results of The Broadway League’s survey with data from online and telephone ticket sales highlights an interesting discrepancy with people from the New York suburbs buying 20% of tickets and domestic visitors 52%.

This is largely because ticket sales stats record the purchaser of the tickets whereas the surveys were filled in by those actually attending performances. International buyers also tend to favor buying at a box office, where geographical data is rarely recorded.

Converting those percentages into people gives us 10 million females, 4.6 million males and 70,000 non-binary.

The average female Broadway attendee is a 42.7 years old caucasion with a college degree who attends around 5 shows per year.

Children are particularly fond of musicals, forming the fourth most populous cohort at 13.1%. Plays are far less appealing with under 18s making up just 6.6% of the crowd. Of course, age restricted content has a big influence on these figures.

Overall, the 50 to 64 years age bucket contained the largest proportion of Broadway viewers at 23.6% (3.49 million). 19.8% (2.92 million) were in the 35 to 49 years age group; 17% (2.63 million) were between 25 and 34 years old; 15.6% (2.30 million) were over 65 and the smallest cohort was the 18 to 24 year olds at 11.2% (1.65 million).

There is a trend of increasing diversity within the Broadway audience, largely driven by Asian and Hispanic attendees. The non-Caucasion segment is now just over a quarter with Asians making up the second largest ethnic group at 8.6% (1.27 million people). The proportion of Hispanics fell from 2017/18 but there were still a record number of Hispanic audience members making up 8.0% of the average audience (1.17 million). The 570,000 black audience members made up the smallest ethnic group (3.9%) while all other ethnic groups (including people of mixed race) added up to 5.5% (820,000 people).

Comparing these diversity figures with the United States as a whole reveals that the Hispanic and black communities, which make up 18.0% and 12.3% of the US population respectively, are under-represented in Broadway. Conversely, Caucasions (61.0%) and Asians (5.7%) are over-represented.

Given the educational prowess of the Broadway audience, it should come as no surprise that attendees also tend to be relatively affluent – and are getting wealthier. The average annual household income of a Broadway audience member in 2018/19 was $261,200 as compared to $222,120 in 2017/18. Those hailing from the suburbs of New York were the wealthiest of all with an average household income of $299,259 while those attending plays reportedly earned more than $30,000 more than those who preferred musicals ($288,260 against $255,626).

The average Broadway theatregoer will take in 4.4 shows each year. That number increases to 7.5 for those living in the New York City Metropolitan Area and goes down to around 3 for tourists (4 per year for US residents and 2 per year for foreign nationals).

Looking at the figures by show type reveals that playgoers were more enthusiastic than musical attendees, taking in an average of 7 plays a year. In contrast, the most committed musical fans only went to one every quarter.

Once a month isn’t enough for some devoted fans though. 4.7% of the Broadway audience attend 15 or more shows a year. In 2018/19 that broke down to 163,859 people sharing an estimated 4.1 million admissions (that’s 28% of all tickets sold).

When it comes to getting hold of their Broadway tickets, 6 out of 10 people prefer to book online. Most choose either Ticketmaster, the general ticket specialists, or Telecharge, the official site for booking Broadway shows.

12% of theatregoers like to visit the box office personally while 11% take advantage of the savings available through the four TKTS discount booths in New York. While Americans are most likely to book online, foreign visitors are more likely to purchase their tickets at the box office or a TKTS booth.

Just 2% of audience members now book over the phone while 1% subscribe to not-for-profit ticket schemes. The remaining 14% of attendees obtain tickets from a range of other sources including brokers, hotel concierges and group booking sites.

When looking for information about an upcoming Broadway show, Google is the online destination of choice although only 37% respondents gave that answer in 2018/19 compared to 46% in 2017/18. Google was the search platform of choice across all ages except the over 65s with theatregoers aged 18-34 (44%) most likely to use it. Seniors prefer to use Ticketmaster.com (23%) over Google (22%) as do those living in the suburbs of New York (38% over 28%)

Social psychologists have found that humans generally tend to follow the herd when it comes to buying products or trying new things. They find ‘social proof’ via word of mouth, testimonials and reviews and going to see a play or musical is no exception.

The Broadway League survey found that before deciding on a show, 22% elicit personal recommendations through word of mouth.