What Is The Broadway League? What It Does for Broadway and Tours

If you've read a headline about weekly Broadway grosses or a season's attendance, the numbers almost certainly came from The Broadway League. It's one of the most important organizations in the industry, and one of the least understood by fans.

What is The Broadway League?

The Broadway League is the national trade association for the Broadway industry. Its 700-plus members include producers, theatre owners and operators, general managers, and the presenters who bring touring Broadway productions to cities across North America.

Unlike most of the organizations in our guide to Broadway nonprofits, the League isn't a charity. It's a 501(c)(6) trade association, which means it works on behalf of the businesses that make up the industry.

A short history

The League was founded in 1930 as the League of New York Theatres. Its original purpose was to protect theatregoers from unscrupulous ticket brokers. Over the decades it changed names, becoming the League of American Theatres and Producers, and in 2007 it became The Broadway League. Along the way its scope grew from Manhattan's theatre district to touring Broadway nationwide.

What does The Broadway League do?

• Labor negotiations. Broadway is fully unionized, and the League negotiates contracts with the unions that represent the people who work on Broadway, including actors, musicians, and stagehands.
• Industry data. It collects and publishes weekly box office grosses for Broadway and touring Broadway, along with research on audiences and Broadway's economic impact.
• The Tony Awards. Since 1967, the League has co-presented the Tonys with the American Theatre Wing. Read our guide to the American Theatre Wing.
• Audience programs. It runs initiatives that bring new audiences to Broadway, such as Kids' Night on Broadway.
• Awards for touring and education. It presents the League Awards for touring Broadway and is behind the Jimmy Awards, the national high school musical theatre awards.
• Advocacy. It represents the industry with government on policy issues that affect live theatre.

Why touring Broadway matters

For most Americans, Broadway isn't on 44th Street. It's a national tour stopping at a performing arts center in their own city. League members present Broadway shows in well over a hundred cities, so touring companies reach audiences in nearly every corner of the country.

That reach is a big part of why Broadway for Democracy works with touring casts. A single tour can connect with audiences in dozens of communities in a season, each with its own local elections and voting rules.

Can you donate to The Broadway League?

The League is a trade association, not a charity, so fans don't usually support it with donations. If you want to give to the Broadway community, see our guides to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Entertainment Community Fund, or donate to Broadway for Democracy to support our work with touring casts.

Frequently asked questions

Is The Broadway League a union?

No. It represents producers, theatre owners, and presenters, the employer side of the industry, and it negotiates with Broadway's unions.

Where do Broadway grosses come from?

The Broadway League collects and publishes them every week.

Does The Broadway League run the Tony Awards?

It co-presents them with the American Theatre Wing.

Who can join The Broadway League?

Its members are mainly producers, theatre owners and operators, presenters, and general managers, along with other businesses that serve the industry.