We’re in the money: ASU Gammage reports record $100M impact for 2015-16 season
Aug 8, 2016, 3:43 PM | Updated: Aug 9, 2016, 11:11 am
(Arizona State University Gammage Auditorium Photo)
(Arizona State University Gammage Auditorium Photo)
PHOENIX — Officials at Arizona State University’s Gammage Auditorium are undoubtedly singing “We’re in the money” after announcing a record $100 million economic impact on Monday.
In a press release, Gammage officials said the impact from the 2015-2016 season — which ended June 30 — was the largest ever recorded for a single season. Last year, the theater reported a nearly $90 million impact.
“The arts as a whole are a tremendous piece of Arizona’s economic engine,” Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director for ASU Gammage and associate vice president cultural affairs for ASU, said in the release.
The record number is not restricted to just ticket sales. It includes money spent in stores, tourist activities and restaurants in nearby downtown Tempe, among other things.
“ASU Gammage, with its 10 to 20 weeks of popular Broadway shows, is a true Tempe gem which consistently benefits the city by boosting sales of Tempe businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and retailers,” Stephanie Nowack, president and CEO of the Tempe Tourism Office, said in the same release.
The average attendee at a Gammage production will spend about $91 in addition to the cost of their seat.
Part of the record-setting season was “The Book of Mormon.” The show’s 2015 stint broke Gammage’s house record for the week of Oct. 25, grossing $2 million more than a standard 8-performance week.
Demand was so high for tickets that officials asked the Tony-award winner to come back to Arizona in 2017.
Gammage said it already has a record number of full seven-show Broadway subscriptions sold for the upcoming 2016-2017 season, which begins Sept. 13 when the curtains raise on “Cabaret.”
