Are in-person lotteries déclassé?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 1:58pm

I hope not, as I much prefer the physical lottery. But I do see the appeal-- the production doesn't have to pay a human being to run the lottery if it's online.

[MNC77]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:16pm

One of the perks of the online lotto from the perspective of the show is that they can gather data about all entrants. Something Rotten!'s online lottery provides information that the show can use to better target audiences.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:18pm

It's more convenient but it goes from having maybe 100 people enter each day to maybe 1000 or more.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:27pm

YES YES YES!! Its fantastic for me cause i live in New Jersey. There have been so many times that i entered a lottery, lost, and then just went to tkts to buy a ticket to something I hadn't seen yet. I would have to spend more money than I planned lol so i hope all lotteries go digital!!

I won the Something Rotten lottery after 3 weeks of entering every day. 

Updated On: 7/6/15 at 02:27 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:43pm

We know you live in New Jersey.

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 2:45pm

If anything, it will get harder to win as more people can enter.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 3:13pm

Jordan, pleasseeeeee change your picture, its scaring me

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:02pm

HA! That definitely would be a good thing.

But if people are complaining about a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal and having my avatars deleted, than this is what they get.

[vfd88]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:05pm

Who complained about a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal. WHO.

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:20pm

I prefer in person lotteries. Hands down.

Reasons:

1. Off-season. September, October, November, January, February, March. It makes trekking into the city so worth it when you show up to a lottery and there are maybe 10 people there to claim 20 tickets.

2. Digital lotteries have about 1,000 entries. If not more, making it nearly impossible to win.

3. I was on the rush line for a show and the person behind me told me she entered / won the FUN HOME lottery twice but turned down the tickets. Had this happened in person, the lottery person would pick a new name. This doesn't always happen with digital lotteries and instead the tickets sell for full price or not at all.

[brdway411]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:35pm

I like in person lotteries. 

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:36pm

The only reason for in-person lotteries is to generate PR for the show.  People walking past and seeing a crowd at the box office makes them think "Oh, that show must be really popular."  

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:36pm

i think Jujamcyn theaters are all gonna have a digital lottery soon. I wouldnt be surprised if Jersey Boys gets a digital lottery soon, and Falsettos when it opens at the Kerr in the spring. Who knows about Book of Mormon

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:41pm

Jersey Boys actually did a mobile lottery about 3 years ago, but I don't think they do it anymore. It seemed like the only people on their facebook page who said they won were people who worked for the PR company. Also, previous thread on digital lotteries: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.php?thread=1081728 

Updated On: 7/6/15 at 04:41 PM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:48pm

I'm pretty sure that the tix still go to someone in the virtual lottery....people here have said they got notified a second time with the good news.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 4:49pm

And don't forget about GIGI's digital lottery with three winners a day. 

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 5:08pm

I have been there before except i usually just go to mcdonalds and loiter for 2 hours unless I'm with someone who will take me out to a proper dinner. Tobiasragg you wanna take meee

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 5:53pm

tobiasragg, I agree that I prefer the in-person lotteries, but my god give it a rest. 

Some shows still HAVE in-person lotteries, so the fact that you "miss that feeling" just doesn't make sense. Go to a damn lottery, then! 

Better enjoy them before they're all gone because as much as I hate to say it, this is the way it'll most likely be going forward. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 7:16pm

I don't mind digital lotteries; I just wish they'd agree on a damn hashtag so I can mute it and not have to hear about all my friends who entered. Do your own PR, shows!

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 10:16pm

As long as the in person rushes don't disappear I won't be working myself into a panic.

[brdway411]

Posted: 7/6/15 at 11:41pm

"As long as the in person rushes don't disappear I won't be working myself into a panic."

 

Yes, I agree. I love camping out and chatting with my friends and young theater fans waiting for the box office to open. 

 

[AntV]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 4:30am

Since the lotto crowds for Kinky have been smaller it was probably either no more lotto or this.

Updated On: 7/7/15 at 04:30 AM

[God I Hate Todaytix]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 5:04am

Shows just need to stop putting their digital lotteries on Todaytix. The shows that have done it on their own website (Something Rotten, Gigi) have actually been not that difficult to win after a few tries. They actually require some effort to find out about the lottery/site and enter some info so there are less entries.

But Todaytix is what every casual theatergoer checks daily and in a few taps they can enter 5 or so lotteries with little intention of actually going. You think the majority of Todaytix users knew what Fun Home was before it won the Tony? I doubt it, but they entered anyway because it was right there in the app and simple. The large amount of users who enter anything and everything makes the lotteries on Todaytix extremely difficult to win.

Plus it requires zero research to learn about the lottery. Imagine if on Telecharge and Ticketmaster it told every interested buyer, "instead of paying $135, why not try this lottery daily to save $100?" It's not a good place to run the lottery.

Then there's the issue of users accepting tickets but not actually going to get them. All digital lotteries should make you purchase the tickets upon accepting them or release them to others.

Just please stop using that glorified ticket broker to run your lotteries. It makes the producers look extremely amateurish.

BTW: I'm still annoyed that Todaytix bought out a ton of seats for Little Shop which they then sold for their $10 premium a week before the show after sending an email saying "See Jake Gyllenhaal!" to ensure they sold out in seconds. They used to just buy tickets when people requested them, but now they're purchasing sought after tickets to resell at a markup? That's called scalping. And the Tony winning best musical does their lotto through a scalper? What a shame.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 9:03am

"except i usually just go to mcdonalds and loiter for 2 hours "

You're still trying to make us think you're an insider?

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 7/7/15 at 10:44am

I won the fun home lotto after someone else decided to not accept the tickets. They called me a little after 6pm for an 8pm show. 

I do agree that they should charge you right away if you win so people just don't win and then not show up to claim the tickets. 

I do prefer the digital lottos though because I'm in the outer broughs of NYC and it takes me some time to get into the city. I would never go in just to try to win an in person lotto.