Play By Play worth it recently? (Compared to Will Call Club?)

[JBroadway]

My Will Call Club subscription for the year is about to expire (my first time subscribing to any papering site), and I'm wondering whether I should sign up again, or maybe give Play by Play a try? Or maybe do both? $100 is obviously a lot steeper than WCC's $20 yearly cost, but if PBP has a lot more options, I'll consider it.

In general, I made good use of WCC. I ended up seeing 7 shows through them, so it definitely paid for itself - several times over, in fact. So if I don't do PBP, I'll definitely sign up for WCC again. But the options were definitely very limited a lot of the time, so it seems like PBP much have a lot more considering what they charge. 

Without violating the terms of service (i.e, no naming any specific shows or companies!), can anyone speak to their experiences on each site? And whether PBP has been worth the money recently?

For the record (to get a sense for what I might consider "worth it" ), I see most Broadway shows, and I try to see as much as I can at the major Off-Broadway not-for-profit companies. I don't see as much commercial Off-Broadway, and I only rarely dabble in the way-off-the-beaten-track kinds of shows. 

[Harriet Craig]

I have no basis for comparison with the Will Call Club, but I recently let my Play-by-Play membership expire, after many years, because it seemed like most of what they were offering was sporting events, stand-up comedy, and performances at out-of-town venues (e.g., the Union County, NJ, Performing Arts Center). I saw many off-Broadway, and a few Broadway, shows courtesy of Play-by-Play over the years, but that ship seems to have sailed.

[zzdawgg]

I’ve been a PBP subscriber for several years. I recommend it, but I also likely make more use out of it than the average user. I’ve seen maybe 4-5 broadway shows this past year, a hand full of off broadway, and a bunch of sporting events. I use it multiple times every month, and like much of what I see. Though, I’m pretty picky with what I book.

[macnyc]

I think all the papering services are shadows of their former selves. I recently went to a show with a friend. I use three services and he uses three different ones, including Play by Play. Both of us were bemoaning the quality of the offerings on our services. I think more tickets are being distributed these days through the Actors Equity office and the like. That's my theory 

[lightguy06222]

I have them both.

I prefer WCC actually.  But PBP often has options that WCC doesn’t.   But they have definitely BOTH gone down in quality in recent years  

 

WCC: # of shows seen per year: (generally only broadway and off broadway shows, with one or two sporting events thrown in...)

2018:  3

2017:  4

2016: 7

2015: 14

2014: 19

2013: 13

I will message you some more details about PBP offers

[JBroadway]

Thanks for the info, everybody! Based on what you all said, I think I'm going to stick with Will Call Club alone for now, and maybe give PBP a try sometime later if I have a bit more money to burn.