On March 26, the Broadway League released a comprehensive report on the effects of touring Broadway productions on the local and national economies. The report, entitled “The Economic Impact of Touring Broadway,” employs data from producers, presenters, venues and audiences during the 2023-2024 season. The full report is now available for purchase.
The report divides touring Broadway spending on Broadway tours into two categories: 1) the money spent by producers, venue owners and presenters to put up shows and maintain venues and 2) the money spent by audiences in the cities touring productions visit. It focuses solely on Broadway tours with Actors’ Equity Association contracts touring in the United States; international tours were not considered.
The Broadway League found that, in the 2023-2024 season, producers of 38 Broadway tours that traveled to 145 cities across the country spent a total of $1.3 billion. Of that $1.3 billion, $1.06 billion was spent in the venues’ communities, and just $215 million went back to the New York economy. This was a significant increase in spending from the 2016-2017 season, the last season this data was collected and analyzed. The average weekly spending of a tour (production and venue expenses) was $1,089,646.
