Performing Arts Season Planning Calculator

Season programming from venue calendar and budget.

Productions in season

Avg production budget ($)

Venue capacity (seats)

Performances per production

Average ticket price ($)

Target occupancy

Season subscribers

Subscriber discount

Season fixed costs ($)

Tab to move between fields

Total season cost

$255,000.00

≈ 6 Teslas

Projected ticket revenue$330,000.00

Net surplus / (deficit)$75,000.00

Total performances40

Expected total attendance8,400

Subscriber revenue share10.3%

Cost per seat sold$30.36

Break-even occupancy53.13%

How to Use This Calculator

Enter Productions in season, Avg production budget ($), and Venue capacity (seats).
Set Performances per production, Average ticket price ($), and Target occupancy.
Adjust Season subscribers, Subscriber discount as needed.
Review the Total season cost ($) result.
Use Projected ticket revenue ($) and Net surplus / (deficit) ($) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Productions in season

Productions in season: Number of separate productions/shows in the season.
Avg production budget ($): Average budget per production (talent, design, rights, marketing).
Venue capacity (seats): Number of seats in the performance venue.
Performances per production: Number of performances per production run.
Average ticket price ($): Blended average ticket price across all tiers.
Target occupancy: Target average occupancy rate for the season.
Season subscribers: Number of season subscription holders.
Subscriber discount: Discount offered on season subscription packages vs. single tickets.
Season fixed costs ($): Year-round fixed costs: admin salaries, rent, insurance, utilities.

Total season cost: Combined production budgets plus season fixed costs.
Projected ticket revenue: Total revenue from subscriptions and single ticket sales.
Net surplus / (deficit): Revenue minus costs. Negative means fundraising gap to cover.
Total performances: Total number of performances across all productions.
Expected total attendance: Projected audience across all shows at target occupancy.
Subscriber revenue share: Percentage of ticket revenue from season subscribers.
Cost per seat sold: Total costs divided by expected attendance.
Break-even occupancy: Occupancy rate needed for ticket revenue to cover all costs.

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Productions in season = 5, Avg production budget ($) = 35000, Venue capacity (seats) = 300, Performances per production = 8 = 9 input(s) provided
Calculate Total season cost
Total season cost = totalProductionCosts + seasonFixedCosts
255000 = $255,000
Calculate Projected ticket revenue
Projected ticket revenue = subscriberRevenue + singleTicketRevenue
330000 = $330,000
Calculate Net surplus /
Net surplus / = totalTicketRevenue - totalSeasonCost
75000 = $75,000