Nowadays movies are marketed in so many different ways. The symbiotic relationship between Hollywood blockbusters and consumer products that has evolved as part of the modern movie making industry has helped generate revenue for major films, as well as for their marketing partners. This system of co-advertising has developed to the point where it has become difficult to determine where a movie promo ends, and a consumer product advertisement begins. Just within the past few months we have seen Iron Man pitching LG phones, Shrek and Co. delivering McDonalds, and the NBA on TNT analysts promoting the A-Team. However, one of the most interesting, and possibly inadvertent beneficiaries of Hollywood magic is the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. This relatively mundane concert venue, built in 1929, with capacity for 5,700 spectators, was recently featured prominently in the major motion picture Get Him to the Greek. This blockbuster comedy, starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, and P. Diddy, consists of a plot revolving around an epic concert scheduled to take place at…the Greek Theatre of course. The film, released on June 4th 2010, has been a hit, earning over $73 million at the box office worldwide. However, the revenue generated by the movie does not end there. We at SeatGeek love to analyze secondary market ticket prices to identify trends in fan sentiment and pop culture, so we decided to take a look at whether the notoriety garnered by the Greek Theatre in “Get Him to the Greek” translated into higher ticket prices for this summer’s shows at the Greek. In other words, did seeing “Get Him to the Greek” make people more inclined to go to a concert at the Greek theatre in L.A?
The short answer, believe it or not, is yes.
We analyzed all performances held at the Greek Theatre, beginning with Counting Crows‘ concert there on July 21st 2009, and spanning through Dane Cook’s final performance there on Oct. 3rd of 2010. (Note that ticket prices for all concerts that have yet to occur are of course subject to change.) Out of hundreds of transactions, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, we found that tickets for events sold before June 4th 2010, the date “Get Him to the Greek” hit theaters nationwide, transacted for an average price of $101.82, whereas events happening after the movie premiered were transacting at an average price of $165.68, an increase of 62.7%! Additionally, when we focused on only the top five events from both before and after June 4th, the results became even more striking. The average transacted price for the top five events before the premiere are 67.6% lower than the average transacted price for the top five after the movie dropped, with average prices of $165.47 and $277.40 respectively. In fact, the average price for all events at the Greek Theatre, following the premiere of “Get Him to the Greek” is higher than the average of just the five most expensive shows from before the movie hit theaters!
In addition to this data, we decided to analyze ticket prices to all events at the Greek over time, rather than dividing the data solely by event. Here the results are slightly less striking, but still point towards an increase in prices on the secondary market. We narrowed our focus to just the single weeks preceding and following the movie’s debut, the dates from May 28th, to June 11th 2010. These two weeks are especially reflective of the effect of movie publicity, due to the fact that generally a large portion of a movie’s advertising budget is spent on a last minute media blitz during the run-up to the movie’s premiere, and the first few days after it opens. During two of the three days of “Get Him to the Greek’s” opening weekend, the average price for a ticket purchased to a concert at the Greek Theatre was over $240! The average ticket sold over this three day period was $188.41, higher than the average price of $165.57 for the weeks immediately before and after the film’s debut, and much higher than $143.32, the average transacted price for a secondary market ticket to an event at the Greek Theatre over a year-long period between July 2009 and July 2010.
Clearly our data shows that this movie has done far more than just entertain masses of people with blithering Brits and a raging Diddy. It also provided a much appreciated spike to ticket sales at one of the most iconic arenas in the United States. In the future, perhaps more venues will team up with Hollywood to bring a slice of the blockbuster bucks their way. In the meantime, go see “Get Him to the Greek” starring Jonah Hill and Russel Brand in theaters, and go check out one of the great concerts at the real Greek Theatre this summer. And of course be sure to check out SeatGeek for the cheapest sold out tickets for baseball, football, basketball, hockey, world cup, concerts Broadway shows, and more!
And for your entertainment here are the first 5 minutes of “Get Him to the Greek.” Enjoy.
Also please feel free to email me at jonathan@seatgeek.com with any questions or comments, and be sure to become a fan on facebook at http://facebook.com/seatgeek and follow us on twitter @SeatGeek & @SeatGeekMusic
