The Lights Are Back On

After 19 days, which was much longer than anyone expected, the Broadways stagehands strike is over.

Cost to the producers? The estimate is about $40M.

Who won long term? Not too sure. Details about the agreement are sketchy.

Short term the producers lost. In addition to the $40M in lost revenues, no one has been buying tickets because they were not too sure when the strike would end. Many newly scheduled shows were at partial capacity when they usually experience 80 – 90 percent capacity. New shows that were supposed to open around now are not opening until January. Existing shows that rely on a heavy walk-up business (e.g. Rent) were having to sell tickets at a discount, at the gate no the less, to get people in temporarily. This might lead to a few early show closings. The four day Thanksgiving weekend, one of the busiest on Broadway, is still a lost weekend.

Others lost too. Restaurants, parking garages, tourist shops and ticket brokers all took a hit and now have to recover.

It is hard to imagine that the stagehands negotiated a deal for more than $40M over what they have now. Lets hope whatever the final agreement is long term.

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