Overture To Hike 'Facility Fee'

I once bought a ticket to a show that cost $14.  That was it-- $14, no more. The fourteen dollars went to the promoter of the show who then paid for the hall and all of its related expenses. The promoter paid the performer and, if there was a profit, smiled.  I paid $14.

Now if I want to buy a ticket, I have to pay a service or handling fee unless I go to the box office. I can understand that, there is a cost to handle and ship the tickets to me.  Though I am not sure why it costs five times as much to handle and ship five tickets to me in the same package.

Then comes the 'facility fee.' Surcharge is boosted by Overture Center

...other resident organizations at the Overture Center .. increased "facility fee" for the center, from $2 to $3 per seat, per show.

Facility fees - usually wrapped into the total price of a ticket and separate from online surcharges - are used in performance spaces nationwide.

At Overture Center, however, that price has inched up to one of the highest among Midwest auditoriums and arenas...

... Overture Center's fee is higher than ones in Chicago, Minneapolis and Cincinnati. Milwaukee's Uihlein Hall in the Marcus Center and Minneapolis's State Theater each charge half of what Overture Center does...

..."The facility fee is actually part of the rental cost of being in the facility," said Overture interim president Michael Goldberg. It covers everything "from putting toilet paper in the restrooms," he said, to "clearing snow from the sidewalk and paying the utility bill - which is $850,000 a year."

Although the facility fee is largely invisible to audience members, it's important when doing business with touring shows and performers, Goldberg said.

"When you calculate the compensation (to performers), particularly to visiting artists, very often the artists share in a percentage of ticket revenues," he said. The facility fee "is intentionally not included in the ticket price for settlement purposes. But from the customer's standpoint, that's what the ticket costs."

One day I we will go to the cinema.  The ticket seller will tell us that we have to pay $9.00 for the ticket and another $2.00 facility fee for "toilet paper, snow removal and the utility bills."

 

Comments

[Meghan]

What's silly about the Overture Center is that it is a big gorgeous facility and we have nothing locally to put in it. It has to rely almost entirely (especially now with the downfall of CTM) on touring shows and concerts. If you check the Overture Center Calendar there is absolutely NOTHING (except a Lyle Lovett concert and some free organ concerts) on for the summer. Why not make your fees a bit less ridiculous and allow local groups to rent the space so you at least make some money?

But I guess the answer to that is simple-they spent a gazillion dollars on this thing and now anyone in Madison who wants to see a show has to pay for the paper towels in the bathroom-even if they don't use them!