2015-09-15 Infrastructure and Services Committee Att 2 to Item 4 The J Service Review 2014-15

                                                                           Service Review 2014-15
                                                                                                                  The J

10.3.2 Ticketing fees
As shown in Attachment D, The J is currently at the higher end of pricing for ticketing fees for similar
venues. This is aimed at recovering as many costs as possible.

Fees for ticketing vary depending on the provider, for example:

Using the current ticketing software SABO, The J takes payment processing fees out of the full ticket
price but absorbs bank transaction fees, meaning that the promoter receives less of the full ticket
price, but the patron has no additional charges.

The likes of Ticketek and Ticketmaster add transaction and service delivery fees to the price of the
ticket which are paid by the patron. This means that the promoter receives the full ticket price, but the
patron pays more for the ticket.

Below is an analysis of the differences based on the Sydney Comedy Festival, an event held at The J
where the promoter hired the venue and used JTix (further detail can be seen in Attachment E).

                                              What is the
                                              maximum the           What does the
                                              patron will pay for   promoter get out     What does/ could
Ticketing provider    Ticket price            their ticket?         of each scenario?    it cost The J?
SABO/ JTix                           $35.00                $43.00             **$32.00                    $2.98
                                                                                                        #
Ticketek                             $35.00                $51.88               $35.00                    $2.30
                                                                                                        #
Ticketmaster                         $35.00                $45.23               $35.00                    $2.30
                                                                                                        #
Try Booking*                         $35.00                $35.00               $33.47                    $2.30
                                                                                                        #
Moshtix*                             $35.00                $43.50               $35.00                    $2.30

* General admission ticketing only – cannot be used to provide allocated seating.
** $3.00 transaction fee paid to The J – this has been established to cover the costs associated for The J (shown
in next column).
#
  $2.30 is the estimated charge for these providers.

In this example, JTix provides the second lowest cost for the patron, however the promoter receives
less of the ticket price. Cost to The J is also slightly higher under JTix, however this is generally
recovered by the transaction fee charged to the promoter.

It is difficult to provide a full analysis on ticketing as part of the Service Review due to the variability
and disparate nature of ticketing options. A full review is required to ensure that the current approach
to ticketing is the most suitable model for The J.

  OPPORTUNITY – Review ticketing arrangements to determine most appropriate model.



10.4 Theatre usage
There are three main types of events which use The J Theatre. A hybrid delivery model is currently in
place for events held at The J.

        Community Organisations hire The J at a reduced rental to put on their own event
        The J will ‘buy in’ events (although this is currently a low percentage of the events)
        Promoters/touring shows hire The J to stage their events




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