A Broadway lottery is the cheapest regular way into most big shows. Each lottery sells a small batch of seats for one performance at a low, fixed price. You enter online for free, a computer picks winners at random, and the winners get a short time to pay. If you lose, you have spent nothing but a minute.
The catch is supply. A lottery might cover a couple of dozen seats in a house of more than a thousand, and for the hottest shows thousands of people enter for every performance. Knowing how the system works will not change the odds on a single entry, but it will help you enter more often and in the places where your chances are real.
Where the lotteries live
Each show chooses one platform and runs its lottery there. Most Broadway lotteries sit on a handful of sites and apps: Broadway Direct, TodayTix and Lucky Seat run a large share of them, and a few of the biggest hits use their own app. You need a free account on each platform you use. Our lottery page groups every current lottery by platform, so you can set up the accounts you need once and enter several shows in one sitting.
How to enter, step by step
- Find the show's lottery on its platform. Every show page here links to the right one.
- Check the entry window. Many lotteries open at midnight the day before the performance and close the next afternoon; others open a week ahead. The window is printed on each show's lottery and rush page, in Eastern time.
- Pick the performance or performances you can actually attend.
- Choose one or two tickets. Two tickets means you and a guest sit together if you win.
- Use your legal name. You will need a photo ID that matches it to collect the tickets.
- Submit once. Duplicate entries for the same performance are usually disqualified.
What happens if you win
Winners are told by email, and on some platforms by text or a notification in the app. The message comes with a deadline to pay, often about an hour, sometimes less. Miss it and the seats go to someone else, so keep your phone on after the draw.
You pay the lottery price plus any platform fee, then collect the tickets at the box office before the show with your ID. Seats are assigned by the box office, not chosen by you. They can be anywhere in the house; front-row seats are common for musicals, and so are partial-view seats at the sides.
Your odds, honestly
Nobody outside the platforms publishes exact numbers, but the shape is clear. For a sold-out hit on a Saturday night, a single entry is a long shot. For a newer show, a play, or a Tuesday or Wednesday performance, the field is smaller and wins are far more common. Lottery entries also drop on bad-weather days and during the slow weeks of January and February.
Habits that actually help
- Enter every day you can go. Each performance is a fresh draw. Entering for five nights is five chances.
- Enter several shows for the same night. If you win two, you can usually decline one.
- Favor weeknights and matinees over Friday and Saturday evenings.
- Set a reminder for the window. Windows that open at midnight are easy to forget.
- Have a backup. If the draw goes against you, a rush line or the TKTS booth can still get you in on the day.
Rules that catch people out
Lottery tickets cannot be resold or transferred, and the name on the entry has to match the ID at the box office. Some shows set a minimum age for the person entering. If you win two tickets, you and your guest usually need to arrive together. And the price on the lottery page is the price before fees, so check the platform's terms if the last few dollars matter.
Ready to enter? Start with tonight's lotteries to see which windows are open right now, or the full lottery list to plan the week.