Updated weekly · Week of Sep 7–13
Broadway Lottery Value: What You Actually Save
Every running Broadway show, ranked by how much a lottery or rush ticket saves you against what people actually paid last week. Not the list price. The average. Tap a column to re-sort.
Ticket sales for the week of Sep 7–13, reported by The Broadway League. Lottery and rush prices are ours, checked every morning.
Biggest saving this week: Hamilton, about $215 under the average ticket if you win.
| Paid back? | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton | $215 | $10 lottery | ~$225 | 98% | Top pick | $2.5M | $1.21B | $12.5M | Yes · Mar 2016 |
| Oh, Mary! | $118 | $47 lottery | ~$165 | 97% | Top pick | $1.1M | $127.7M | $4.5M | Yes · Nov 2024 |
| MJ | $111 | $49 lottery | ~$160 | 93% | Top pick | $1.5M | $362.2M | $22.5M | Yes · May 2023 |
| The Lion King | $95 | $35 lottery | ~$130 | 95% | Worth a try | $1.7M | $2.21B | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | $95 | $40 lottery | ~$135 | 97% | Top pick | $1.5M | $363.5M | $35.5M | Yes · 2022 |
| Just in Time | $90 | $40 rush | ~$130 | 100% | Top pick | $694K | $86.5M | $12.5M | Yes · May 2026 |
| Maybe Happy Ending | $90 | $20 lottery | ~$110 | 84% | Only if you're flexible | $689K | $96.9M | up to $18.3M | Not announced |
| Hadestown | $76 | $49 lottery | ~$125 | 98% | Top pick | $833K | $283.3M | $11.5M | Yes · Nov 2019 |
| The Outsiders | $76 | $49 lottery | ~$125 | 80% | Only if you're flexible | $759K | $154M | $22M | Yes · Dec 2025 |
| The Rocky Horror Show | $75 | $30 lottery | ~$105 | 95% | Worth a try | $795K | $22.3M | Nonprofit | Nonprofit |
| Schmigadoon! | $70 | $45 lottery | ~$115 | 88% | Worth a try | $921K | $21.7M | $11.1M | Not announced |
| Buena Vista Social Club | $61 | $49 lottery | ~$110 | 93% | Worth a try | $883K | $78.7M | up to $17M | Not announced |
| The Book of Mormon | $61 | $49 lottery | ~$110 | 93% | Worth a try | $859K | $899.6M | $11.4M | Yes · Nov 2011 |
| The Lost Boys | $60 | $45 lottery | ~$105 | 83% | Only if you're flexible | $1.0M | $29.4M | $25M | Not announced |
| Chicago | $60 | $50 rush | ~$110 | 100% | Top pick | $997K | $865.4M | $2.5M | Yes |
| Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical | $56 | $59 lottery | ~$115 | 90% | Only if you're flexible | $609K | $58.4M | up to $14.5M | Not announced |
| Six | $55 | $45 lottery | ~$100 | 75% | Only if you're flexible | $595K | $238.2M | $5M | Yes · Dec 2022 |
| The Great Gatsby | $50 | $45 lottery | ~$95 | 82% | Only if you're flexible | $860K | $139.9M | $25M | Not announced |
| & Juliet | $46 | $49 rush | ~$95 | 83% | Only if you're flexible | $602K | $194M | $17M | Yes · Apr 2024 |
| Aladdin | $45 | $35 lottery | ~$80 | 90% | Only if you're flexible | $948K | $793.1M | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Paranormal Activity | $45 | $40 lottery | ~$85 | 100% | Worth a try | $817K | $3.5M | Not reported | Not announced |
| Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) | $42 | $48 lottery | ~$90 | 70% | Just buy a seat | $519K | $26.5M | Not reported | Not announced |
| Stranger Things: The First Shadow | $35 | $45 lottery | ~$80 | 75% | Only if you're flexible | $720K | $79.2M | Not reported | Not announced |
| Wicked | $30 | $55 lottery | ~$85 | 96% | Only if you're flexible | $1.2M | $1.88B | $14M | Yes · Dec 2004 |
- You save is the average ticket minus the lottery or rush price. Average ticket is the weekly gross divided by seats sold, so it is what people paid, fees included, not what the box office lists.
- Worth entering weighs the saving against how full the house ran. It is not a guess at your odds. Nobody publishes how many people enter a lottery, so nobody can tell you your chances.
- Gross to date is every dollar of ticket sales since the first preview. It is money in, not profit: nobody publishes what a show costs to run each week, so this table can't tell you who is making money. Figures through Sep 13, 2026 as compiled by BroadwayWorld and Playbill from the League's weekly reports, then the League's own weekly numbers.
- Cost to open is the investment reported in the trade press or in SEC filings. "Up to" is the most the producers were raising. Paid back? means the producers or the trade press said the show recouped that investment. "Not announced" means only that: no announcement, not a loss. Click any figure for its source.
- Off-Broadway isn't here. The Broadway League doesn't report Off-Broadway sales, so there is no number to put in the table. Every Off-Broadway lottery is still on the daily list.