Free tool
Break-even calculator for shows
Break-even tickets = show costs ÷ what you keep from each ticket after fees, rounded up. Enter your costs, price, fees and capacity to get the count and the share of the room it takes. Free, no login, and it runs in your browser.
Last updated
Result
Break-even
352 tickets
Break even at 352 tickets, 70.4% of a 500 cap.
- Net per ticket
- $22.75
- $25.00 − $2.25 in fees
- Of paid capacity
- 73.3%
- Capacity − comps: 480 tickets
- Break-even price at a sell-out
- $18.73
- The lowest price that covers costs if every ticket sells
- Result at a sell-out
- $2,920
- 480 tickets × $22.75 − costs
| Sold | Tickets | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | 120 | -$5,270 |
| 50% | 240 | -$2,540 |
| 75% | 360 | $190 |
| 100% | 480 | $2,920 |
Working: $8,000 ÷ $22.75 = 351.65, rounded up to 352 tickets.
How is the break-even point calculated?
Work out what one ticket puts in your pocket: the face price minus any fees that come out of it. Divide your total show costs by that amount and round up to a whole ticket. Compare the result with your paid capacity, which is capacity less comps, to see whether the show can break even at all.
- Percentage fee per ticket
Ticket price × fee %Rounded to the cent, as each ticket is charged.
- Net per ticket
Ticket price − percentage fee − flat fee per ticket- Break-even tickets
Show costs ÷ net per ticket, rounded up- Paid capacity
Capacity − compsCapacity here is what you can sell, after kills and holds.
- Share of capacity
Break-even tickets ÷ capacity × 100- Result at a sell-out
Net per ticket × paid capacity − show costs- Break-even price at a sell-out
(Show costs ÷ paid capacity + flat fee) ÷ (1 − fee %)Then rounded up to the cent, so every ticket nets enough after the fee is rounded.
Only enter fees that come out of your ticket price. If the buyer pays the ticketing fee on top of the face value, it does not reduce what you keep. Comps take capacity but bring in no money.
Worked example: a 500-cap show
$8,000 of show costs, $25.00 tickets, a 3% card fee and $1.50 per ticket in platform fees, with 20 comps. Illustrative numbers, not a real show.
- Percentage fee: 3% of $25.00 = $0.75
- Net per ticket: $25.00 − $0.75 − $1.50 = $22.75
- Break-even: $8,000 ÷ $22.75 = 351.6, rounded up to 352 tickets
- Share of capacity: 352 ÷ 500 = 70.4%
- Paid capacity: 500 − 20 comps = 480, so break-even is 73.3% of the tickets that bring in money
- At a sell-out: 480 × $22.75 − $8,000 = $2,920
- Break-even price if every ticket sells: $18.73
Questions
How many tickets do I need to sell to break even on a 500-cap show?
Divide your show costs by what you keep from each ticket after fees, then round up. With $8,000 of costs, a $25.00 ticket and $2.25 of fees per ticket, you keep $22.75 a ticket, so you need 352 tickets: 70.4% of a 500 cap.
Which fees should I include?
Only fees that come out of your ticket price: card processing, a platform percentage or a flat per-ticket charge that you absorb. Fees the buyer pays on top of the face value do not reduce what you keep, so leave them out.
Do comps change the break-even point?
Comps bring in no money, so they do not change how many paid tickets you need. They do take capacity: enter them so the calculator checks your break-even against your paid capacity, which is capacity minus comps.
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