Broadway theater attendance still hasn’t fully bounced back two full seasons after COVID

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still lingering. We learned to Zoom, work from home, and make sourdough bread. And many businesses have yet to fully bounce back.



New York City’s iconic Broadway theaters are one such entity. A new report by the Broadway League shows that COVID set attendance back a decade. The numbers from the most recent 2023-2024 season look a lot like those from 2013-2014.



The season-end statistics, released last week, shows that grosses yielded $1.54 billion and that the total attendance for Broadway shows was 12.3 million. These figures sound great until you compare them.



Broadway attendance was on the rise from 2016 to 2019. At its peak in the 2018-2019 season, it reached 14.8 million. COVID clearly halted the momentum. In March 2020, theaters shut down, and they stayed closed until the summer of 2021.



The most recent season was the second completed season since theaters reopened, but the data shows that audiences haven’t fully bounced back. In 2013-2014, Broadway attendance was at 12.2 million, which is about where we are today and where we were last season, too.



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There are many reasons why theatergoers have yet to come back. Ticket prices are not cheap. Senior citizens make up a big portion of audiences and they may still be reluctant to be in large group settings. Not as many people are working in offices five days a week in the city, so suburbanites are not going to the theater midweek like before. Broadway will have to get creative to attract pre-COVID numbers.



A brief history of Broadway and how it's defined



The name Broadway comes from the 13-mile street that the original theaters were located on. It’s one of the oldest in New York City and continues all the way to Sleepy Hollow, New York. The first theater opened in 1750.



These days the name has expanded its meaning. Theaters do not have to be located exactly on the street but can be anywhere in New York City’s theater district as long as they have 500 seats or more. There are currently 41 Broadway theaters in operation.



The good news about the Broadway League's report is it shows that theater capacity has remained stable: It was just under 90% in the most recent season, similar to what it at Broadway's pre-COVID peak. But ticket grosses are down about 16% from their $1.83 billion peak.



The Broadway League, the industry's national trade association , is made up of 700 theater owners, producers, and general managers.