| Is the TKTS Discount Ticket Booth the Cause of | | | | the Broadway box office for nearly the same |
| Rising Broadway Ticket Prices ? | | | | price. |
| The reasoning behind this is theory is that, over | | | | But we also have to consider the impact of the |
| the years, getting tickets at the half-price ticket | | | | physical existence of the TKTS stand. Its |
| booth has become such a normal practice for | | | | prominent place in Duffy Square, where any |
| Broadway theatergoers that Broadway shows | | | | visitor to Times Square is sure to notice it, is a |
| are now selling far fewer full-price tickets at the | | | | way of reminding tourists that Broadway |
| box office. In order to accommodate this | | | | beckons. Furthermore, once a potential ticket |
| situation, Broadway producers must raise ticket | | | | buyer has decided to try his luck at the booth, he |
| prices higher and higher, with the expectation that | | | | is going to be exposed to an array of Broadway |
| a large percentage of the shows' tickets will | | | | show possibilities that he may not have otherwise |
| eventually be sold at half price anyway. It's at the | | | | considered. This is a boon to the smaller or less |
| point now where a half-price orchestra ticket | | | | popular plays and musicals that so desperately |
| from the TKTS booth is about $60 -- a decade | | | | need to sell tickets in order to keep running. |
| ago, you might have gotten a full-price ticket | | | | The psychological power of discounting must be |
| from the box office for the same amount. In | | | | factored in as well. There is a mentality among |
| other words, it's almost as if these people waiting | | | | many purchasers that an item is only worth |
| in that TKTS line are now playing the true full | | | | buying if it's on sale, especially if the discount is as |
| price of a Broadway show, and the people buying | | | | much as half price. So you can bet that many |
| at the box office are paying double. If the | | | | potential ticket buyers will be more amenable to |
| discount ticket booth had never existed, the | | | | paying the high price of a Broadway show if they |
| theory goes, then regular full price tickets would | | | | feel like they're getting a deal. |
| have never risen so high and would cost about | | | | The Future for TKTS |
| the same as a half-price ticket currently costs. | | | | Broadway marketers, producers, and ticket |
| Others argue that TKTS can't be blamed for the | | | | buyers often argue about the pros and cons of |
| wild inflation of ticket prices by this logic because | | | | the TKTS discount ticket booth. For every |
| discount tickets were available long before the | | | | Broadway producer whose show benefits by |
| booth was established, back when producers used | | | | having hundreds of leftover tickets sold at the |
| to sell "twofers" (two tickets for the price of one) | | | | half price booth each day, there is a second |
| to their more financially-troubled Broadway shows. | | | | producer who is annoyed because the first |
| However, it seems that those discounts weren't | | | | producer's more high-profile show is taking away |
| as commonly used by Broadway audiences as | | | | from her show's sales. For every Broadway fan |
| the TKTS ticket discounts are today. Broadway | | | | who loves the half-price booth because he couldn't |
| has become a largely tourist-oriented business, | | | | afford to buy Broadway tickets otherwise, there |
| and New York City tourists gravitate to that | | | | is another person who longs for the pre-TKTS |
| half-price booth. | | | | days when full-price tickets were actually |
| The TKTS Half Price AdvantageThe obvious | | | | affordable. |
| appeal of the half-price ticket stand is that is | | | | Its clear that the TKTS booth encourages people |
| provides good seats to Broadway shows for half | | | | to never pay full price for a Broadway ticket , |
| the ticket price (or, for some more popular | | | | but if no-one is paying full price, what is the point |
| shows, at a 25% discount). But, if the | | | | ? |
| above-mentioned theory carries any weight, then | | | | No matter how long the debate continues, though, |
| it means that the TKTS booth isn't really helping | | | | the reality is that TKTS discount ticket stand is a |
| ticket buyers. It's just asking them to wait until | | | | fixture in the theater district. Its shiny new |
| the last minute and stand in line for tickets that | | | | renovated home in Duffy Square, located smack |
| they could have -- if the half-price booth had | | | | in the middle of bustling Times Square, is proof |
| never been created -- purchased in advance at | | | | that half-price tickets are here to stay. |