The Top Broadway Show Tickets Sellers

Detailed list of the top online Broadway show ticket vendors analyzing company backgrounds, website design, ease of use, and methods of selling tickets.

With just 40 theatres on Broadway, show producers have a myriad of ways to sell their tickets and ticket buyers respond by purchasing the top show tickets for extraordinary amounts, while many less-popular shows may stumble. Everyone from theatre aficionados to New York City tourists want the chance to experience the Great White Way, but newcomers may find the task of procuring tickets to be daunting. It seems like everyday a new ticket vendor establishes their online presence, making the choice of who to purchase tickets from all the more difficult. In order to aid in the decision process of the average Broadway consumer, below is a list of the top online Broadway ticket vendors. The list has details on the background of each company in charge of the website, the design and ease of use, and which approach each website takes towards selling tickets. Finally as a general disclaimer, this list is not compiled to suggest which online vendors are better than others, but simply to discuss the most virtually omnipresent vendors.

1. Telecharge.com - The Shubert Organization

Company Background

Oldest and largest theatre company in America
Owner of 17 Broadway theatres and their associated ticketing website
Also owns the websites Broadway Inbound for group purchases, and Plum Benefits for corporate users

Website

Covers both on/off Broadway shows
Handles ticket lotteries

User Experience

Extremely outdated website - difficult to use
Overly complicated filter system compared to competitors
Poor design that somehow makes an average amount of info seem like an information overload

Type of Company

Primary ticket source for theatres owned by the Shubert Organization
Offer face value tickets with a service charge of $8-15

2. Ticketmaster.com - Live Nation

Company Background

Founded in 1976 in Phoenix, Arizona but merged with Live Nation in 2010
Despite controversies and investigations, the company has continued to grow and become more prominent in the ticketing marketplace since its inception
The company is known for buying out much of its competition, such as their acquisition of Ticketron in 1991
In 2015, they acquired Front Gate Tickets, the ticketing service for festivals like Lollapalooza

Website

Smooth and sleek design
Large theatre selection outside of Broadway shows

User Experience

Easy to use and well organized
Must create/sign in to account to buy tickets
Mobile app with similar functionality as the website
Can filter shows by genre, date, and distance

Type of Company

Primary ticket source for Broadway theatres not owned by the Shubert or Nederlander Organizations
Does not specialize in Broadway shows
Uses two systems of selling tickets:
- Face value tickets can be purchased with slight fees, often less than $30
- Resale tickets can purchased but with much larger service fees generally around 20% of the ticket price

3. Broadwaydirect.com - Nederlander Productions

Company Background

Nederlander owns many theatres on Broadway and uses their website to promote/sell tickets
Started in Detroit with acquisition of the Detroit Opera House in 1912, and has since expanded to NYC

Website

Provides news, show info, lotteries, and Nederlander-owned show tickets
Covers both on/off Broadway shows
Featured shows are almost entirely Nederlander productions

User Experience

Sleek, clean, and easy to navigate
Shows can be filtered by genre only

Type of Company

Primary ticket source for shows in Nederlander theatres. All other ticket sales routed to other primary ticket sources.
Prices are face value with very low online fees (generally less than $25)

4. Broadway.com - John Gore Organization

Company Background

Rebranded to the “John Gore Organization” in 2016. Company was formerly known as “Key Brand Entertainment”
Acquired “Broadway Across America” in 2008, a producer and investor in many Broadway shows
Acquired “Theatre Direct International” in 2010 giving them broadway.com, theatre.com and many more domains
A lot of other acquisitions including “Groups Sales Box Office” and Broadwaybox.com

Website

Broadway.com is used for ticket sales, theatre news and exclusive content
Covers both on/off Broadway shows
Offers a simple layout

User Experience

Show lists can be filtered by many categories (ie genre, Tony winners, off/on Broadway)
Calendar and seating chart make choosing dates and seats simple
Mobile app allowing for easy access to show information, Broadway news and tickets

Type of Company

Front-end Ticket Broker
Sells face value tickets with large service fees from 25-40%, without any clear indication of what warrants a higher service fee

5. Newyorktheatreguide.com - Encore Tickets

Company Background

Encore tickets is a global ticket distribution network and the UK's largest independent ticketing company
Encore is a primary partner to all of London’s West End theatres and producers
New York Theatre Guide is the company’s venture into the American theatre scene and Broadway

Website

Contains show tickets, reviews, news, theatre lists etc
Covers both on and off Broadway shows

User Experience

Clean and simple to use
Interactive maps make choosing seat simple, but seats are limited

Type of Company

Tickets available through partnership with broadway.com
Front-end broker using the broadway.com ticket inventory
Seat selection and prices are identical to broadway.com

6. Todaytix.com - TodayTix

Company Background

Privately held organization based out of New York City
Launched in 2013 by Merritt Baer and Brian Fenty, a pair of Broadway producers
Massive amount of funding totaling around $73 million that demands huge business growth

Website

Covers shows across the entire world
Covers both on/off Broadway shows
Handles just 2 ticket lottery systems on Broadway

User Experience

Allows the users to filter by genre, date, location, price
Mobile app with similar functionality to the website
Does not tell you where you will sit. You can pick the section but not specific seat
Company reps meet you outside the theatre and give you a ticket

Type of Company

Solely a ticket broker and distributor
Transparent pricing, with very small fees (less than $20)

7. Vividseats.com - Vivid Seats

Company Background

Privately held in Chicago, IL
Does not disclose financial info but is reported to be the third largest ticket reseller
Founded in 2001 by Jerry Bednyak and Eric Vassilatos
Vivid is the official ticket provider for many sports related products like ESPN and Sports Illustrated

Website

Decent design
Limited selection of Broadway shows

User Experience

Fairly simple to use
Must create an account to purchase tickets
Mobile friendly with the addition of the Vivid Seats app
Can filter results by time, venue and category

Type of Company

Ticket broker and marketplace - not specializing in any one field
Concert and sports tickets are more common among the website
Allows users to sell their own tickets after a screening process

8. Seatgeek.com - Seatgeek

Company Background

Designed as a mobile-focused ticket hub to buy and sell tickets
Company got its start through a lot of investments, some from the likes of Ashton Kutcher and Yahoo Sports
Recently signed a deal to be the primary ticket office of the Dallas Cowboys

Website

Clean and appealing design
Solely for tickets
Only features the Broadway shows, not off-Broadway

User Experience

Simple to use
Interactive maps make choosing seats simple
Mobile focus allowing one to purchase tickets at any time
Utilizes programs to rate which seats are the best to buy based on price and location
You know what row you will sit it but they may not tell you what exact seat you'll have

Type of Company

Ticket aggregator and exchange marketplace
Not specializing in any one ticket type field, but sports tickets are 20% of their sales
Does not buy its own tickets but lists tickets from vendors
Claims to load ticket inventory and prices from other sources, but it is unproven

9. Stubhub.com - eBay

Company Background

Stubhub was founded in 2000 by Stanford Business School students, Eric Baker and Jeff Fluhr
The company has grown into the world's largest ticket marketplace with tickets available to thousands of events
In 2007, the company was acquired by eBay
Over their lifespan they had exclusive deals with teams like the Seattle Marlins and organizations like the MLB

Website

Features a visual representation of what the view from a seat will look like, albeit the graphic looks somewhat dated
Large selection of theatre shows from around the country
Combines theatre and stand-up comedy into one category

User Experience

Allows users to choose which section and side of the theatre they wish be seated
Mobile app with similar functionality to the website
Search results can be filtered by date, distance, popularity and parking accessibility

Type of Company

Ticket exchange marketplace
Does not purchase tickets to resell but operates the marketplace where people may sell their tickets to others
Concert and Sports tickets are much more commonly found

10. Cheaptickets.com - Orbitz Worldwide/Expedia

Company Background

Orbitz is a travel fare aggregator website based out of Chicago that has been in operation since 2001
Originally designed to combat the rise on online travel agencies like Expedia, making it ironic that the company was purchased by Expedia in 2015