Broadway contributed $21 billion to New York City’s economy in the 2024-25 season, according to a new study from the Broadway League, its first since 2018-19. Most of that money arrived with visitors who came to town for the shows and spent far more than the price of a ticket once they were here.
The League published its findings on October 21. Audience spending accounts for 81% of the total, and the bulk of it comes from what the League calls Broadway Tourists: people who live outside New York City and say Broadway was a very important reason for their trip.
Those visitors spent close to $12 billion beyond the box office, mostly on hotels, food and drink, a rise of 22% on 2018-19. International audiences carry weight out of proportion to their numbers: they make up 19% of Broadway Tourists but brought in 42% of the money that came into the city. The group takes in 79% of theatergoers from the suburbs, 73% of domestic visitors from beyond the metro area and 59% of those from abroad.
The cost of putting on a show has moved faster. The 44 new productions running during the season cost $418 million to mount between them, 39% more than in 2018-19, when there were 39. Direct spending on production and running costs reached $1.9 billion, up 7%, and running costs alone came to $1.4 billion, higher than in 2018-19 even though the season played 25 fewer performance weeks.
The study puts Broadway’s tax contribution to the city at $979 million and credits it with supporting 114,600 full-time-equivalent jobs, counting both the people who work on the shows and those in businesses kept busy by theatergoers.
Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League, called Broadway “a magnetic force and economic engine for New York City,” and warned that it “faces significant challenges as production costs and operating expenses continue to rise.”
The full report, Broadway’s Economic Contribution to New York City 2024-2025, is sold through the League. The Theatre Development Fund co-funded the research.
