PORTLAND, Maine — Just like airlines, many performing arts venues are beginning to charge more for ticket-holders to stretch out their legs.
The idea of charging a premium for desirable seats, as Northwest and U.S. Airways do for aisle and exit-row seats, is catching on with symphonies, ballets, operas and theater companies.
“Demand pricing” is taking hold, said Alice Kornhauser, marketing director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. “If people are willing to pay more for an aisle seat, then it’s pretty irresponsible from a business standpoint not to charge,” Kornhauser said.
Pricing strategies are especially important this time of the year: Holiday productions typically account for up to 50 percent of annual ticket sales for symphonies, ballets, operas and theater companies, said Joanne Steller from Target Resource Group.
Woodland Park-based TRG, which advises nonprofit arts organizations, is working with the Portland orchestra and about 50 other organizations using the principles of demand pricing.
The results can be dramatic.
The Boston Ballet, for example, saw a $160,000 increase in revenues for its “Nutcracker” last year, largely from demand-based price adjustments; in New York, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater used such pricing to boost revenues by $1.9 million over the past two years, TRG says.
In older, cramped theaters, in particular, theatergoers might be willing to pay more for extra knee room or the ability to slip away without crawling over others.
In Portland, symphony officials studied seating charts at 1,900-seat Merrill Auditorium. After analyzing historical buying patterns, the symphony this year began charging more for popular seats while keeping the same spread of prices from high to low, Kornhauser said.
