Movie Tickets Down, Prices Up In 2017

Graph Courtesy of the National Association of Theatre Owners – null
Admissions Changes

The number of movie tickets sold decreased in 2017, but revenues were partially offset by increasing prices, according to data from the National Association of Theatre Owners. 

The Association, which is a trade organization representing 33,000 movies screens in the U.S., said the number of tickets to movies was down to approximately 1.24 billion, from 1.31 billion in 2016. 

That number of ticket sales is the lowest that number has been since 1995. Average ticket price was up to $8.97, an all-time high according to the organization’s data, though the price in 1977, $2.23, when adjusted for inflation would be $9.40, according to a company rep. 

High prices mitigated some of the damage from declining sales, with a gross of $11.09 billion on the year, still substantially ahead of 2014’s $10.4 billion and only a few million behind 2015’s $11.12 billion. 

Much of the loss can be attributed to a summer slump, which the organization said was 92 million admissions behind last year, with a particularly dismal August.