Kennedy Center Ticket Sales Continue To Drop Following Trump Takeover

BroadwayWorld previously reported that ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have dropped sharply following a change in leadership earlier this year. According to a new analysis of ticketing and spending data reported by the Washington Post, attendance for major productions between early September and mid-October reached the lowest levels since the pandemic.

During that period, roughly 43 percent of seats in the center’s main theaters - the Opera House, Concert Hall, and Eisenhower Theater - remained unsold. That means only about 57 percent of available tickets were sold or given away as complimentary. In previous years, the numbers were far stronger: 93 percent of seats filled or comped in fall 2024, 80 percent in 2023, and 94 percent in 2022. Even during the pandemic recovery year of 2021, when audiences were still hesitant to return, unsold seats made up a smaller share than they do today.

The Kennedy Center could have sold tickets for approximately 143,000 seats during that six-week stretch, but more than 50,000 went unfilled. Credit and debit card transaction data reviewed by the Washington Post for the same period showed that overall spending on Kennedy Center tickets fell by more than half compared with the previous year. That level of decline has not been seen since 2020, when the venue was closed for months due to COVID-19 restrictions.

A review of availability for this weekend's Saturday matinée performance of Pulse at the Family Theatre shows that the majority of seats are still available for purchase.

While the matinée performance of Washington National Opera's Aids is selling much better, though with still a substantial number of seats remaining for tomorrow's performance.

Francesca Zambello, artistic director of the Washington National Opera, told Parterre "A year ago, we were doing fantastically with sales, like, killing it. Now, our sales are down 38%. Our contributions are markedly down because people don’t want to give or come. So my response is don’t take it out on us… Find ways that are constructive to disagree rather than boycotting art and artists. So you’re not only killing the opera, the symphony, [you’re also hurting] all the people who work at the Kennedy Center."

The downturn comes nine months after a leadership transition that placed President Donald Trump as chair of the Kennedy Center’s board and installed new management under his direction.

Since then, several internal reports have indicated steep drops in subscriptions and single-ticket sales. Subscriptions to the center’s main seasons were reportedly down 36 percent by early summer compared with the year before.

The leadership has publicly maintained that the new direction is what audiences want. Grenell said in a podcast appearance that the Center is "doing the big things that people want to see" and that attendance will grow as more people recognize its "common-sense programming."