Talk to tourists about where they get tickets to Broadway shows, and a lot of them will say, “The Tickets Booth” or “That red place in the middle of Times Square” or “Where the people line up, you can’t miss it.”
Because of its location, and its brand-iful branding, the TKTS booth has become a go-to destination for ticket shopping . . . regardless of whether the shoppers were looking for a discount or not.
Well, TDF, the org that runs TKTS, addressed that issue this week by starting to sell full price tickets at The Booth.
(cue cheers)
Yep, that’s right, one of the windows at The Booth will now “serve as a “Full-Price Ticket Window” for future performances of all shows and for same-day performances of shows not available at a discount.”
The goal, of course, is to make sure our buyers know that half price tickets aren’t the only way to see a Broadway show.
(Another service rolled out this week is that matinee and evening tickets will be sold simultaneously on matinee days – a win for the consumer who wants to get up early and take of their plans for the day – and a win for the show that may decrease available inventory earlier, allowing them to variable price remaining inventory and potentially increase their overall gross.)
Read the full press release here.
The TKTS booth has been a savior for the industry for so many years, by giving shows a way to get cash for unsold inventory before the potential is lost. And it has been so good at what it does, it became a one-stop shop for theater tickets for so many.
Now, that one-stop shop, has multiple ways to get tickets: 50%, 40%, 30% and now full price.
It’s got something for every kind of shopper.
And when you have something for everyone, you have less attrition to other industries, and more profit for ours.
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9 Responses to TKTS. It ain’t just for discounts anymore.
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It’s the longest running show on Broadway. With the longest line, which reminds me of the guy who spoke at your last TedX about interacting with the people on line waiting to get in, thus arousing curiosity and making it an event. (And yes, I’ll be doing that with my show. New agey stuff lends itself to that.)
When you have “something for everyone,” don’t you have “a comedy tonight?”
So, do they have a website where you can purchase and print tickets and see excerpts from all the shows?
The London version of TKTS in Leicester Square has, for a number of years, sold discount tickets for a limited number of shows several days in advance. When in London, I find it convenient to be able pick up tickets for the entire weekend in one visit to the booth. Admittedly, the shows that are offering a discount for future shows aren’t the top shows but there is a nice variety and it saves either running around or making multiple trips to the booth.
Great news! I think TKTS has really hurt the ability to get full fare income for shows (although it does fill seats and get SOMETHING for them). If it’s not at TKTS, many tourists don’t bother or even know about the other shows available! Great news!
This just makes too much sense. There must be a catch.
It is great progress, but we need TKTS in other cities with multiple theaters like SF, Chicago, LA, Houston, KC, and Seattle. Goldstar is starting to edge in on the business and if TDF were to expand, it would help the Theatre Development Fund, the local theater markets, and tourists who love Theater. And in those remote locations, we need them to see seats to regional and community shows not just the tours or the national fixed theater shows.
Imagine being a theater buff on a business trip to Kansas City and seeing a TKTS sign, checking your iPhone app and discovering that KC has a booth and tickets for several shows that evening. The Theater wins, the theater buff wins, and ultimately TDF wins.
And it could be expanded in the local markets to include smaller concerts, symphonies, and operas. And maybe Vancouver and Toronto be included as well – one can only dream!
This is terrific news, but I agree with Donald re: London. Theatre buffs come to the US or outside of NY for theatre, maybe a week of theatre, get tired of the lines and see LESS shows because of the inconvenience but would generate more income for us in NYC if able to buy shows several days in advance.
Ken can speak to this better, but don’t producers know several days in advance how well a show is selling? The ones needing more bodies in the seats could put those tickets out there for early sale to get those bodies into the theatre.
Living all the way over on the east side, I would definitely buy 2-3 shows each time I get over to the booth. And I live IN the city
Imagine all those customers from further away having the advantage of buying 2-3-4 shows at once. Maybe they might come in more often 
I wish the producers and TKTS could have great discussions about releasing tickets days in advance so its a winwinwin – producer – TKTS – consumer.
Ken, as shown in this video, the TKTS booth will certainly just be called TICKETS since it’s not partial anything.
PRICE BREAK, tune of DAYBREAK, a new YouTube “parody quickie ad” (since Barry Manilow’s return to Broadway happened to be announced the same day)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykg6AZKdUX4
I actually think it will work fine as long as everything is clearly labeled at the booth, but do you (or other commenters) really think this means “discounted premium” is the wave of the future?