In North America:

• By the end of February 2021 advance ticket sales and revenue for The Nutcracker and other ‘blockbuster’ lyric productions to be staged from December 6, 2021 to January 12, 2022 were tracking behind performance in February 2019.

• In 2019/20 the 21 productions in this category collectively sold over 554K tickets worth $42 million. By the end of June 2019 they had already sold 12% of tickets and taken 14% of final revenue. If 2021/22 follows the same trajectory as 2019/20, ticket sales will reduce by 395K and revenue will fall by $32.6 million.

• Average Ticket Price achieved (ATP) is down from 2019/20, and the collapse in sales is most pronounced in the market for groups, particularly groups of over 50.

• The current number of other productions on sale with at least 10 performances is down 68% from 2019/20.

• If ticket sales follow the same trajectory as 2019/20, aggregate box office for the season will fall by $32.9 million.

• While aggregate sales are currently extremely concerning for the crucial 2021/22 holiday period, some U.S. and Canadian organizations are performing very well. 10% were outperforming their 2019/20 advance sales in the middle of July.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland:

• By the end of December 2020 advance ticket sales for 2021/22 pantomime were 95,000 higher than the prior year and aggregate revenue up £3.4 million. However, this ‘postponement boost’ was short lived. By the end of January 2021 aggregate sales were tracking behind by over 55,000 and revenue lagging by £133k.

• By the end of June 2021 this gap had grown to 311,000 tickets and £5.8 million.

• In 2019/20 the 119 pantomimes in this study collectively sold just over 3 million tickets in the value of £65.4 million. By the end of June they had already sold 27% of final tickets and taken 25% of final revenue. If 2021/22 follows the same trajectory, ticket sales will reduce by 1.3 million and revenue will fall by £22.7 million.

• While Average Ticket Price achieved (ATP) is up from 2019/20, there has been a collapse in the market for groups of over 50.

• The Nutcracker and other ‘blockbuster’ lyric productions to be staged from December 6, 2021 to January 12, 2022 are performing better than pantomime in the UK.

• At the end of June 2021 aggregate ticket sales and revenue were similar to what had been achieved by June 2019.

• ATP was performing strongly and there was growth in group sales.

• The current number of other productions on sale with at least 10 performances is down 75% from 2019/20.

• If ticket sales follow the same trajectory as 2019/20, aggregate box office for the season will fall by £10.9 million.

• While aggregate sales are currently extremely concerning for the crucial 2021/22 holiday period, some U.K. and Irish organizations are performing very well. 20% were outperforming their 2019/20 advance sales in the middle of July.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The COVID-19 Sector Benchmark Dashboard, developed by TRG Arts in collaboration with U.K.-based audience analytics company Purple Seven, launched in early April 2020. The dashboard, which is free, provides near real-time intelligence and advice to help arts leaders see results as they respond to the pandemic. The project is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to SMU DataArts, TRG Arts' longtime partner in advancing the arts and cultural sector. 

When an organization signs up for the dashboard, an automated data feed is set up between the organization’s box office and the dashboard’s secure server. The automated feed provides a daily update on ticket sales, refunds, and donations for the organization. In addition, data from all other organizations participating in the dashboard is aggregated in an anonymous format to create a national benchmark, which shows up on the dashboard and allows an organization to see how it compares with a large group of its peers. The dashboard is entirely anonymous, so no one else’s sales figures or customer data are identifiable to an organization. The dashboard provides daily insights for individual organizations that they can share with constituents and stakeholders; reveals sector trends in almost real-time, which can assist in short- and long-term planning; allows arts leaders and policymakers to track daily sales data across entire sectors; and by data gathering and benchmarking across the U.K., Canada, and the U.S., gives a clearer picture of the effects of the virus on the arts sector and the recovery in each country. Monthly Insight Reports will be posted on the SMU DataArts and TRG Arts websites. Read more in the press release.