Summary of SOLT Box Office Data Report 2008

London Theatre Attendances and Revenues

Total annual ticket sales, box office receipts, and other useful statistics for recent years are shown in the these two downloadable files.

This annual report, written by Richard Andrews for SOLT, analyses a wide range of box office data from West End venues in 2008. A full copy of the report can be purchased. To do so, please visit the publications page.

The number of attendances to West End plays in 2008 was 13,892,460, the highest on record. This was a slight increase from 2007 when there were 13,636,540 attendances.
The world financial crisis did cause attendance numbers to decline in the second half of the year as the situation escalated, but while numbers were down on the previous year, they were still above average for the previous three years and a busy Christmas and New Year period combined with the 53rd ‘leap’ week, saw yearly totals break the records previously set in 2007.
Major competing world sporting or cultural events that might have affected British or international tourism in 2008 were the Euro 2008 football championship in Austria and Switzerland in June, the Olympic Games in Beijing in August, and the American Presidential Election in November, none of which appear to have done so.
The beginning of the year saw the ‘reality television’ cast productions that had opened in late 2007 – including Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Grease – continue to attract strong audiences. Spring saw the opening of advance booking for the ‘reality television’ cast revival of Olivier! (although performances did not start until December). As a result, the total advance booking revenues held by box offices, though slightly down on 2007, continued throughout the year at a historically unprecedented level. There were also several sellout plays including the Donmar West End season featuring Kenneth Branagh in Ivanov and Derek Jacobi in Twelfth Night, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart, and Hollywood imports Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum in Speed The Plow, Ralph Fiennes in God Of Carnage and Oedipus and Josh Hartnett in Rain Man, all of which seem to have attracted new audiences.
It is difficult to measure the impact of the Congestion Charge on West End audiences. The report suggests that the charge has a negative impact on sales, although not a major one.
Numbers of tourists arriving to the UK fell by 2% from 2007.
Numbers of North American tourists fell by 13% in 2008 compared to 2007.
The fifth Get Into London Theatre (GILT) campaign ran from 3 January-8 February. By the end of the promotion 34,338 tickets had been sold, producing revenue of £1,068,890.
Running alongside Get Into London Theatre, the promotion 16-25 Live! offered young people £15 tickets for 28 London shows. This resulted in 3,434 tickets sold.
The eleventh Kids Week promotion, which is designed to introduce young people to the theatregoing experience, resulted in 51,252 tickets being sold, 14,690 more than in the previous year’s scheme. Summary of Attendance Chart 1986-2008
The graph shows that the number of attendances to the West End has increased during this 23-year period. • 1986 had the lowest number of attendances with 10,236,362.
2008 had the highest number of attendances with 13,892,460.
16 of the 23 years in the sample recorded a percentage increase on the preceding year.
2001 (the year of the 11 September attacks in New York) recorded a 1.6% increase in attendance compared to 2000. (2002, which may have also been expected to suffer after 9/11, also recorded a percentage increase of 2.8% on 2001.)
2005 (the year of the London bombings) recorded an increase of 2.4% on 2004.
The year which saw the biggest percentage increase in attendances is 2007, which saw an increase of 10.4%.
The year that saw the biggest percentage drop in attendances is 1996 when, after the surge of 1995, numbers fell by 6.4%.

Download the attendance revenue graph below. This file is in pdf format and will open in a new browser window.

SOLT Annual Comparison Table

Key points from 1986-2008 Attendance tables

Number of theatres open:

Since 1986, the average number of theatres open increased to a high of 45 in 2008.
During the 23-year period, the average number of theatres open has vacillated between this high of 45 and a low of 39 recorded both in 1997 and 1991.
The average number of theatres open hasn’t fallen below 42 since 1998.

Number of performances:

2008 recorded 18,275 West End performances, the highest number in the sample period.
1991 recorded 15,508 West End performances, the lowest number in the sample period.

Number of new productions:

2006 recorded 268 new productions, the highest number in the sample period, 2008 fell to 241.
1996 recorded 186 new productions, the lowest number in the sample period.