At events such as NitroJam drag racing series, the IHRA shifts the audience to make the stands look full on camera.
Companies like Fillaseat, which exist to send its paying members to venues to be “seat fillers” when there are seats to be had, meet a need today.
“The concept of seat filling is very, very old,” said Jim Gillette, a partner at Las Vegas-based Velvet Rope Enterprises, a Fillaseat licensee. “Literally when the Greeks invented theater they invented seat fillers. I have actually found newspapers from the turn of the century where they talked about ‘dressing the house’ or filling seats.”
Fillaseat launched in 2009 and has a presence in some 35 cities across the United States and in London. Four licensees currently operate in multiple cities, with Gillette’s territory including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, St. Paul and northern New Jersey. Gillette said that his group is in the process of rebranding and striking out on their own as SeatStir and that the transition should be complete by the end of the year at the latest.
“It’s a growing industry,” Gillette said, adding that there are more than 150,000 people signed up. “The people who are members are going to see events and be introduced to venues that they otherwise might not ever have even heard of in some cases. The venues like it because they’re building their mailing list, their database, getting positive word-of-mouth, and they’re selling drinks and merchandise.”
Those members pay $90 annually for the right to fill seats. Venues typically contact Fillaseat three days to two weeks in advance when they know there is an event coming up that is likely to not be at capacity.
“We email the venue a reservation list, and they’ll have the names of everybody,” Gillette said. “People show their ID at the box office and the venue seats them where they want them. That’s the big advantage. We’ll have events that sell very well, but they won’t have sold the high end tickets, the $280 tickets in the first five rows. Those seats are empty and the last thing you want is Rod Stewart walking out on stage and seeing the first five rows empty.”
Amy Constantine Kline is patron services and marketing manager at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Jazz Theater in Pittsburgh, and said that the unique needs of her venue make Fillaseat a valued partner. Her venue is the largest jazz presenter in Pittsburgh with respect to the number of productions and how many people attend just for jazz. She also faces a unique dilemma with her 350-seat venue.
“We generally sell out, but when we don’t it’s really bad,” she said. “We seem to be at either 102 percent or 65 percent.”
Constantine Kline said that when patrons pick up their tickets, a lot of them say they had never heard of the venue. While she can’t provide hard numbers, Constantine Kline said she believes a significant number of those guests return.
Across the state in Philadelphia, Ginger Dayle runs the New City Stage Company, now presenting in its ninth season. Her venue seats 110 and said that when Fillaseat first came to the city they were valuable to her business.
“I was one of the first theater companies that used them,” Dayle said. “I would give them a set of tickets and they would go right away. I even had a Fillaseat Night, where we would have a raffle or contest. It’s not like we weren’t making money but the people from Fillaseat felt really special because it was a night just for them. Oftentimes they would want to come back and see the show again and bring friends.”
“They found that people don’t like sitting in the first two rows and so they discounted those to become $20 tickets,” she said. “But 10 rows back a seat is $48. We want those front rows occupied. You want the audience to feel like they’re in a crowd that something is happening around them and you want the performers to feel like they’re being observed and watched.”
Jason Rittenberry serves as president and CEO of IRG Sports + Entertainment and said that while he believes a company like Fillaseat provides a great service, he believes it is better suited for arenas and venues where artists are coming to play.
In his world, business is about 70 percent walk-up with the other 30 percent in advance ticket sales. “We can’t take that chance of bringing in seat fillers and then not having a seat for them if it is a beautiful day and we have walk-ups,” he said.
That said, Rittenberry said that his events will occasionally move patrons from inexpensive locations to being near the starting line or wherever the most camera angles will be shot of the track.
Randy Brown, executive vice president and general manager of the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind., said that he is proactive to local and regional veterans' groups, including a local international guard base, when he has tickets to give away, which is approximately 10 percent of the time. The effort helps build goodwill and future audiences for arena events, he added.
“Some of these groups frankly don’t have an opportunity very often to see events,” he said.
When it comes to developing those future audiences, Brown noted that if it is not being done that “you go from being a performance venue to becoming a museum. No one wins in that case. You have to be perceived as being vibrant, exciting, and alive.”
Interviewed for this story: Bob Gillette, (702) 330-2856; Randy Brown, (260) 482-9502; Jason Rittenberry, (561) 578-5623; Amy Constantine Kline, (412) 322-0800; Ginger Dayle, (215) 563-7500