Schedules for future seasons are being reconfigured to include more contemporary works. Gelb said the Met will finish its fiscal year ending July 31 with a balanced budget. The company budgeted for an attendance shortfall during the next four years and made up for the loss of revenue by raising $130 million in supplemental funding in addition to its annual funding. “Typically 20% of our ticket sales are foreign tourists, and we sold 8% of our tickets to foreign tourists, and 30% of our tickets typically are sold to domestic tourists, and those sales were down, as well.” “It was an unqualified success, even if even if the box office was below levels that it’s been, because of the loss of foreign tourists,” Gelb said. As part of a schedule change planned ahead of the canceled 2020-21 season, the Met went dark during most of February and extended the season by a month. Ticket sales dropped during the peak of the omicrom variant to as low as 44% during the second half of January, then approached 70% during May and June. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the final 58 performances from March 12 on, leaving that season’s dollar capacity at 70%. Prior to the pandemic, the 2019-20 season was on track to finish with 72% of dollar capacity and 76% of tickets sold. Gelb addressed the audience before Saturday night’s finale to praise the company and audience for making it through the season with no COVID-19 cancellations.
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