Kettering reviewing Fraze ticket options after 70% bought online this year

Fraze Pavilion ticket operations in Kettering are being re-examined after the vast majority of them were bought online this year.

The city is reassessing operating hours at the Fraze ticket office and the Fraze FanFare Store in the Town & Country Shopping Center after about 70% of ticket purchases for 2022′s season were made electronically, Kettering City Manager Mark Schwieterman said.

“We’re going to take a look at that,” Schwieterman said. “I don’t have any recommendations at this point. But we do have to look at that because that’s obviously a very high percentage of sales.”

Only 20.6% of ticket purchases occurred at the two Kettering locations, according to results of a city survey. The survey also found Kettering’s ticket-buying services received a 4.6 rating on a scale of 1-5.

The Fraze’s onsite booth is commonly open during the season from 3 p.m. to intermission on the day of shows. It has operated since the city-owned 4,300-seat outdoor venue opened in 1991.

The Fraze FanFare site has been at Town & Country for fewer than 10 years, Schwieterman said. It is open from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday during the season.

Tickets also are available at fraze.com, etix.com and Charge by Phone at 1-800-514-3849. Etix.com works with more than 1,800 venues worldwide, according to its website.

Kettering’s online purchases are tabulated by etix reports, according to the city.

“I think, regardless, next year people will be able to get tickets online or at our ticket locations,” Schwieterman said. “We may just have … less hours (or) a different structure.

“Something might change,” he said. “But next year, they’ll still be able to get tickets from our ticket offices. And then we’ll examine what the long term looks like.”

The Fraze this year had 30 ticketed performances, averaging about 2,100 tickets sold per show, Schwieterman said.

That was nearly twice as many as last year’s 16 ticketed concerts in a COVID-shortened season but shy of 2019′s 35, records show.

Nearly 2,700 was the average tickets sold per performance last year. That was up 400 to 500 from previous years, Schwieterman said.

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