JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It's a win for local theatres everywhere.
Downtown Jacksonville's historic Florida Theatre overcame a tough feat, becoming the most-attended venue in the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia region this year despite its low seating capacity, according to a news release shared Tuesday.
The Florida Theatre's attendance topped other local venues, including Daily's Place, VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. The theatre noted these venues have significantly more seating.
The rankings come after Pollstar, the only trade publication covering the concert industry worldwide, released its end-of-year numbers for 2024, which includes ticket sales.
Pollstar found that the Florida Theatre, which has 1,865 fixed seats, sold 187,157 tickets this year and grossed $8,473,592 off sales.
The release states the gross income for the Florida Theatre surpassed the Moran Theatre and concerts at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena and came within 1.9% of the St. Augustine Amphitheater and 2% of the Daily's Place's gross receipts.
Still, the theatre's ticket sales were especially dominant to other venues in the region.
Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, which has a total capacity of 15,000, sold 95,824 tickets this year. That's about 52% of the ticket sales the Florida Theatre recorded.
The St. Augustine Amphitheatre, with a 4,789 seating capacity, sold 103,532 tickets; Daily's Place, with a seating capacity of 5,500, sold 103,750 tickets; the Moran Theatre in the Jacksonville Performing Arts Center, with 2,950 seats, sold 99,231 tickets.
“What’s significant about the Florida Theatre being on these charts is that it is locally managed by a nonprofit organization dedicated to this building and serving our community,” said Florida Theatre President Numa Saisselin. “We had some high-priced tickets last year, but the average Florida Theatre ticket was $53.24, compared to the average ticket price for a Top 100 tour in North America, which was $136.45.”
The theatre's attendance was also among some of the best in the world.
The Florida Theatre is the 44th most-attended theatre in the world, and for theatres with up to 2,000 seats, it ranks fifth most-attended theatre in the country.
Florida Theatre Vice President of Programming Kevin Stone, who handles show bookings, applauded the rankings.
“Ranking first in our market and 44th in the world for theatres despite having fewer seats to sell every night is a testament to the incredible support that the Florida Theatre receives from our community and the world-class talent that takes our stage every night,” he said. “This ranking reflects our commitment to delivering quality entertainment for years to come.”
