Is The World Cup Really That Damaging To The West End?
Published on Thursday 17th June, 10.04am, Written by Amy Whiting
So the World Cup is in full swing and England have already messed up their first match, but what effect does all of this really have on West End ticket sales?
Who would you rather watch this Friday night, John Terry or West End leading man Lee Mead?
According to The Stage, the month that the 2006 World Cup fell in, tickets sales were down by up to 20%. But the big question is, can the same be expected this time around? Many forums on the subject seem to think the reason is cost: the theatre is quite expensive and watching football matches is free. No argument there.
The big concern is that the situation could be made worse this time around due to the timings of this year’s England matches, and it needs to be considered how much the theatre and football audiences overlap.
Is the ‘typical’ World Cup fan likely to be the same person who will book tickets to see Love Never Dies on a Saturday night? Maybe not, but the World Cup isn’t really like any other sporting competition; those who have no interest in football whatsoever come together under one big umbrella. People who couldn’t tell you which team won the Premier League decorate their cars, houses and faces with St George’s flags to show their support for our boys in South Africa.
In order to get into the minds of the people who matter, we decided to do some very serious research for ourselves. Thanks to the lovelies on Twitter (who, we must remember, are all mega theatre fans) it was decided that given the choice between seeing a West End musical and watching a World Cup match, musicals win hands down. See, this graph highlights it beautifully:
Our Twitter findings
Surely Theatreland is always prepared for summer sporting events and the inevitable loss in ticket sales when the warmer weather arrives. Wimbledon, the motor, horse and boat racing must also have an impact on sales around this time of year, so how much damage can four weeks of football every four years do?
The World Cup is the one month where we can try and feel united, so let’s not get all British and moany. Let’s embrace the footie AND the theatre.
Well I personally would prefer to watch Lee Mead …although, as he is keen football fan, he must be torn tonight.!! However I will happily watch England win tonight:)