TKTS Booth New York: How the Broadway Discount Booth Really Works
Every ticket sold at the TKTS booth is discounted, up to 50% off face value, and the only two booths left in New York are in Times Square and at Lincoln Center. Here is how the system works, what it costs, and when it is worth the line.
Short answer
The TKTS booth sells same-day Broadway tickets at 20-50% off face value, plus next-day matinees, with an $8 per-ticket service fee. The only operating booths are the Times Square / Duffy Square location and the Lincoln Center atrium. There is no Seaport or Brooklyn booth any more, and the TKTS app shows live inventory without selling advance tickets.
The red steps of the TKTS booth in Duffy Square are one of the most photographed pieces of street furniture in Manhattan, and most of the people photographing them have no idea what is being sold underneath. Every single ticket sold at that booth is discounted, typically 20-50% off face value, and an $8 service fee goes on top of each one. The booth is run by TDF, a non-profit that has spent decades discounting New York theatre, and the fee funds its programmes.
This guide covers the mechanics: where the booths actually are right now, what you can buy there, what the discount really amounts to, and how TKTS stacks up against lotteries, rush tickets and simply booking a show like MJ the Musical in advance. The short version: TKTS rewards flexibility and punishes specific wants. If your heart is set on one particular show on one particular night, the booth is the wrong tool, and the rest of this page explains why.
What Is the TKTS Booth in New York?
The TKTS booth is a same-day discount ticket outlet for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, operated by the non-profit TDF. Every ticket it sells is discounted, typically 20-50% off face value, with an $8 per-ticket service fee added at purchase. It sells same-day performances and next-day matinees only, so it exists for flexible theatergoers, not for anyone who needs a specific show on a specific date.
TDF, formerly the Theatre Development Fund, has run the programme for a long time, and its purpose is twofold: fill empty seats that would otherwise earn nothing, and make theatre affordable for audiences the full price excludes. That is why the inventory swings so much. A hit show with a full house has no reason to discount, while a show in its second year, or playing a slow week in February, may hand over a large block of seats at a deep percentage off.
The booth under the red steps in Duffy Square is the famous one, but it is not the only one. TDF also operates a booth at Lincoln Center, and that is the complete list. Older guides still send people to a South Street Seaport location or a Brooklyn booth; neither is currently listed by TDF, so planning a trip around them means planning around a booth that no longer exists.
One point that surprises people: the discount is set by each show, each day. There is no fixed TKTS percentage. A show might be a few points deeper off on a slow Tuesday than a Thursday, depending on how its box office is tracking. The only guarantee is that nothing at the booth is sold at full price.
The booth also serves Off-Broadway, which is worth knowing if your budget is tighter than your schedule. Off-Broadway face values sit below Broadway's, so a solid discount on top of a lower starting price can make an evening of theatre genuinely cheap. Regulars treat the board as two markets in one, and the Off-Broadway rows are often where the best value hides.
Where Are the TKTS Booths Located in NYC?
There are exactly two TKTS booths operating in New York: the Times Square booth under the red glass steps in Duffy Square, on W 47th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue, and the Lincoln Center booth in the David Rubenstein Atrium at 61 W 62nd Street. There is no downtown booth, no Seaport booth and no Brooklyn booth currently listed. Hours differ by booth and by day, and Lincoln Center runs the more limited schedule.
The Times Square booth is the one you have seen in photographs, the wedge of red steps at the north end of Duffy Square. It is steps from most of the theatres it serves, reachable by a pile of subway lines, and it draws the longest lines in late afternoon, ahead of the evening curtain. The Lincoln Center booth sits in the David Rubenstein Atrium, an indoor space, which makes it the better pick in bad weather and usually the shorter wait.
Because hours change by day and by booth, and because printing a timetable here guarantees it rots, the honest move is to point at the source: TDF publishes current booth hours and live inventory at tdf.org/tktslive, and the TKTS app shows the same live board. The app does not sell advance tickets beyond the same-day and next-day-matinee window, but it tells you what is on the board before you commit to the walk.
If you are planning a whole theatre-heavy trip around the booth, the things to do in NYC page covers how Broadway slots into a full itinerary, and the Times Square area guide covers everything else within walking distance of the booth itself.
A practical note on choosing between the two. The Times Square booth carries the bigger board, because it is the flagship and because the Theatre District is on its doorstep. Lincoln Center trades a slightly smaller board for an indoor queue and a calmer room, plus a short walk to the Upper West Side's restaurants if you are killing time before a curtain. If the weather is hostile or your party includes anyone who cannot stand for long stretches, Lincoln Center is the sensible default. Otherwise, check both boards on the app and go where your show is.
How Much Discount Do You Actually Get at TKTS?
TKTS discounts run up to 50% off face value, with a typical range of 20-50%, and each show sets its own percentage each day. On top of the discounted price you pay an $8 service fee per ticket, which funds TDF's programmes. The fee is flat, so it takes a bigger bite out of a cheap seat's saving than a premium seat's, which is the arithmetic every group should run before joining the line.
The maths matters more than the headline. Because the fee is a flat $8 rather than a percentage, the real saving on an inexpensive ticket lands noticeably below the discount posted on the board, while on a premium seat the fee almost disappears into the saving. This is why TKTS tends to favor people buying the pricier seats, and why families buying four or five cheaper tickets should do the arithmetic before committing to the wait.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Posted discount range | 20-50% off face value |
| Maximum discount | 50% |
| Service fee | $8 per ticket |
| What the fee funds | TDF's non-profit programmes |
| Lottery winning prices, for comparison | Roughly $30-$50 |
| Rush and standing room, where offered | Commonly $30-$50 |
What the booth cannot do is beat the deep discounts available to lottery winners. Digital lotteries for Broadway shows typically award tickets in the $30-$50 range, far below anything TKTS offers, but the odds are long and the entry process is a gamble rather than a purchase. If you want certainty, TKTS or a booked ticket wins. If you want the cheapest possible seat and can absorb disappointment, enter the lotteries first and use TKTS as the fallback.
One more angle worth sitting with: the discount percentage is not the whole story, because face values vary enormously between shows. A deep cut on an expensive musical can still cost more than a shallow cut on a play. When you read the board, read the resulting price, not just the percentage, and compare across rows. The booth prints both, and the cheapest ticket on the board is rarely the one with the biggest number next to it.
How Does the TKTS Booth Work, Step by Step?
Check the live board on the TKTS app or tdf.org first, then join the line at either booth, pay by card when you reach the window, and receive a ticket for a same-day performance or a next-day matinee. There is no app purchase, no advance booking and no seat selection beyond what the window assigns from that show's allocated block. The whole transaction takes minutes once you reach the window.
The sequence, in practice:
- Check the board first. The app and tdf.org/tktslive mirror what is on the booth screens in near real time. If nothing appeals, you have saved yourself the line.
- Arrive with options, not a single want. The board changes through the day as shows sell out or release more seats. Walk up with two or three acceptable shows.
- Join the line. At Times Square the line forms along the steps; at Lincoln Center it is indoors. Late afternoon is the crush before evening curtains.
- Pay at the window. The $8 fee is per ticket, added to the discounted price.
- Go to the theatre. Your ticket names the show, the theatre and the seat. Some seats are excellent; a block of house seats released that morning can beat anything left at the box office. Other pages covering the same trip are gathered on New York City Travel Guide.
The one habit that separates a good TKTS trip from a wasted hour is checking the board before you leave wherever you are staying. There is no version of this where arriving with a fixed heart and finding that show absent from the board works out well.
It is also worth knowing what the booth is not. It is not a resale market: everything on the board comes from the shows themselves, so there is no markup gamesmanship and no risk of an invalid ticket. It is not a clearance fire sale either: the shows that appear are the ones with room to fill that day, and the day you visit decides more than any strategy does. Treat it as a snapshot of the market that evening, priced honestly, and you will set your expectations correctly.
TKTS vs Lotteries, Rush and Full-Price Booking
TKTS is the certainty option: you see the price and the show before you pay, typically 20-50% off plus an $8 fee. Lotteries are the cheap option, with winning prices typically around $30-$50, but entry is a gamble with no guarantee. Rush and standing room vary show by show, commonly $30-$50 where offered, and full-price booking is the only way to lock a specific show, date and seat.
Each route suits a different traveler, and the mistake is treating them as interchangeable. The comparison below is the honest version of the trade-offs.
| Method | Typical cost | Certainty | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| TKTS booth | 20-50% off face value + $8/ticket | High, once you are at the window | Flexible visitors wanting a good show tonight |
| Digital lottery | Roughly $30-$50 when you win | Very low | Budget travelers who can absorb a no |
| Rush / standing room | Commonly $30-$50, set per show | Low to medium | Students, same-day deciders |
| Book ahead at full price | Face value | Total | A specific show on a specific night |
Rush and standing room deserve a caveat: they are set per show, not standardised across Broadway, and some shows offer neither. Always check the individual show's own site. The same applies to lotteries, which run on Broadway Direct, Lucky Seat and the shows' own pages, usually opening a day or several days ahead and sometimes day-of, with winners notified shortly before the performance.
For a fuller treatment of every discount route into a Broadway house, the cheap Broadway tickets guide breaks down the whole landscape, and the best Broadway shows page helps you pick which titles are worth the effort.
Which Shows Are Usually at the TKTS Booth?
The board is dominated by shows with seats to spare: long-running titles in their second year or later, plays rather than musicals, Off-Broadway productions, and shows playing a soft week. The biggest hit musicals appear rarely or at shallow discounts, because a full house has no reason to discount. Checking the live board on the app or tdf.org before you travel is the only reliable way to know what is up on a given day.
The pattern is predictable enough to plan around. Musicals with celebrity casts and recent openings sell out and stay off the board. Established family musicals surface occasionally, at modest discounts. Straight plays, especially serious dramas without a star, are the booth's bread and butter and often carry the deepest cuts. Off-Broadway shows appear regularly and can be the best value on the board, since face values are lower to begin with.
| Show type | How often at TKTS | Typical discount depth |
|---|---|---|
| New hit musical with a star cast | Rarely | Shallow when present |
| Long-running family musical | Occasionally | Moderate |
| Straight plays and dramas | Most days | Often the deepest |
| Off-Broadway productions | Most days | Moderate to deep |
| Week-of-performance special events | Varies | Set event by event |
If a specific blockbuster is the whole point of your trip, book it rather than gambling on the board. The title travelers ask about most often is MJ the Musical, the Michael Jackson jukebox show playing in the heart of the Theater District, and it is exactly the kind of polished, high-demand production you should not leave to a same-day booth.
The Lion King sits in the same category: a long-running family favorite whose weekend seats go fast, and whose best price tiers reward booking early rather than turning up hopeful.
Wicked completes the set of the three shows visitors most often name as their must-see. It is a big, polished night with a full orchestra, and the listing shows the performance calendar and current pricing.
None of this means the booth is only for obscure titles. Plenty of recognizable names pass through on any given week, especially midweek and in the quieter winter months. The point is directional: the more a show can fill its house without help, the less likely it is to appear, and the shallower the cut when it does. Plan your booth trip for the night you have no must-see, and plan your booked seats for the nights you do.
Tips for the Times Square TKTS Line
Arrive with a shortlist rather than one show, check the live board before you leave your hotel, and target the late-afternoon window before the evening curtain if you want the fullest inventory, or a matinee morning if you want the shortest line. Pay by card, know the $8 per-ticket fee is coming, and treat the Lincoln Center booth as the indoor, calmer alternative when the Times Square line stretches along the steps.
A few specifics that regular booth users know:
- The board updates through the day. Shows sell out and new blocks appear. What the app showed at midday may not match the early-evening board.
- Matinee days flip the schedule. For a next-day matinee you buy the day before, which means the line thins out earlier and the inventory skews toward the following day's shows.
- Weather moves the calculus. The Lincoln Center booth is indoors. In rain or a February cold snap, that alone can decide it.
- Do the fee maths for groups. The $8 charge applies to every ticket, so on cheap seats it can take a real bite out of the posted discount.
- Have a dinner plan near your theatre. Booth tickets come with a fixed curtain time, and Midtown fills up fast before an evening show. The where to eat before a Broadway show question is its own logistics problem.
The booth also sits inside one of the most crowded squares in the city, so build the wait into the evening rather than racing it. Duffy Square is a short walk from most Theatre District houses, and the surrounding blocks are the densest strip of marquees in the world. Give yourself the hour, enjoy the people-watching, and let the discount do its work.
For everything else in the neighborhood before or after the curtain, the Times Square guide covers the square itself, from the lights to the quieter corners locals actually use.
Common Questions About the TKTS Booth
The essentials in one line: two booths, Times Square and Lincoln Center, every ticket discounted 20-50% plus an $8 fee, same-day and next-day-matinee inventory only, live board on the TKTS app and tdf.org. Below are the questions booth-goers ask most, with the specifics of each answered directly.
Can you buy TKTS tickets online?
No. The TKTS app and tdf.org show live booth inventory, but purchases happen at the booth itself, in person. The app does not sell advance tickets beyond the same-day and next-day-matinee window. If you want to buy online, you are buying from the show's own ticketing or a reseller at whatever price it charges.
What is the TKTS service fee?
$8 per ticket, added to the discounted price at the window. The fee funds TDF's non-profit programmes. On an expensive seat it barely dents the saving; on a cheap seat it can eat a large share of the discount, so do the arithmetic for groups.
Is there a TKTS booth in Brooklyn or at the South Street Seaport?
Not currently. TDF lists only the Times Square / Duffy Square booth and the Lincoln Center booth. Guides that still mention a Seaport or Brooklyn location are out of date, and planning around them means planning around a booth that no longer exists.
Can you get 50% off at TKTS?
Yes, up to 50% off face value is the maximum discount, and some shows do hit it. But each show sets its own percentage each day, and the typical range is 20-50%. The live board shows the exact percentage per show before you commit to the line.
Does TKTS sell next-day tickets?
Yes, next-day matinees. The booth sells same-day performances plus matinee tickets for the following day, which is useful if you want to plan tomorrow's afternoon tonight. Evening performances beyond same-day are not sold at the booth.
Are TKTS seats bad seats?
Not necessarily. Shows release blocks from their house seats, which can include excellent locations, and the window assigns from whatever block that show handed over. You cannot choose a specific seat at the booth, but the seats are regular theatre seats, not a discounted standing area.
One last framing thought before you plan. TKTS is a tool for converting flexibility into money, and it works best for travelers who can say "tonight we see whatever is good" rather than "tonight we see that one show." If your trip has a must-see title on it, book that title and use the booth for the second night's entertainment. That is the combination most theatre-savvy visitors land on: one booked seat for the certain thing, one booth visit for the adventure, and the $8 fee feeling like a bargain both times.