2018 - 2019 Season is Best Attended and Highest Grossing Season in Broadway History

The Broadway League has released end-of-season statistics for the 2018 -- 2019 season, which began May 28th, 2018 and ended May 26th, 2019. For the 2018 -- 2019 season, total attendance reached 14,768,254 and Broadway shows yielded $1,829,312,140 in grosses, making it the best attended and highest grossing season in Broadway recorded history. All new and continuing productions ran a record total of 1,737 playing weeks.

As a point of reference, the 2017 -- 2018 season was a 53-week season (most seasons are 52 weeks, but every seventh year, a 53rd week is added to catch up to the calendar year). The 2018 -- 2019 season was 52 weeks. Had last season ended the week prior, this season would have concluded with attendance up 9.5%, grosses up 10.3%, and playing weeks up 9.3%.

Even with one less week, the 2018-2019 season ended with attendance up 7.1% over last season's 53 weeks, grosses up 7.8%, and playing weeks up 7.0%.

"The trend is clear, Broadway has never been more appealing to so many different people ranging from kids to grandparents and everyone in between. This substantial growth in attendance clearly reflects the large variety of offerings including long running shows, new hit productions and stories relevant to our society today," says Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League. "This coupled with the fact that over 50% of tickets are priced below $101, the industry is achieving its goal of being more accessible to everyone."

Broadway attendance in the 2018 -- 2019 season topped those of the ten professional New York and New Jersey sports teams combined. Broadway surpassed the combined sports teams by over 4.6 million in attendance.

During the 2018 -- 2019 season, 38 productions opened, which included: 13 musicals (11 original, 2 revivals), 21 plays (14 original, 7 revivals), and 4 special engagements.

For the 2018-2019 (52 weeks) season: total attendance 14.77 million, gross revenue $1.83 billion, and playing weeks 1,737.
For the 2017-2018 (53 weeks) season: total attendance 13.79 million, gross revenue $1.70 billion, and playing weeks 1,624.
For the 2017-2018 (at 52 weeks) season: total attendance 13.48 million, gross revenue $1.66 million, and playing weeks 1,589.
For the 2016-2017 (52 weeks) season: total attendance 13.27 million, gross revenue $1.45 billion, playing weeks 1,580.
For the 2015-2016 (52 weeks) season: total attendance 13.32 million, gross revenue $1.37 billion, playing weeks 1,648.