The number of resale tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway have halved since producers doubled the price of top-tier tickets.
According to a report in the Financial Times newspaper, the quantity of listed tickets per show has fallen from 99 to 53 over the last year. Experts believe the dip is linked to the increase in price for the prime orchestra seats to $849 (£675/€787) a ticket from $475.
Producer Jeffrey Seller said last year that the increase was an opportunity to subsidise the cheapest tickets to attract more theatregoers with lower incomes. He said it was “taking from the rich to give to the poor”.
The Financial Times found that while the face value price had almost doubled, the average resale price through StubHub has actually dropped by $9 to $1,801. Scalpers’ profits dropped from $1,335 per ticket to $952.
“They have been bold in claiming their true market value,” Chris Carey of Media Insight Consulting told the Financial Times. “That certainly breaks the mould.”
Before the price increase, a Financial Times analysis showed that the production was losing more than $2.6m per week to scalpers.
Hamilton has grossed more than $155m since opening in 2014, and most recently broke box office records with a gross of more than $3.3m in a single week.
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