Event break-even attendance.

The break-even formula for a promoter

What has to be covered. Fixed costs are everything you owe whether 20 or 200 people come: the venue minimum or rental, talent, security, insurance and permits, marketing, equipment, and any flat pay to a promoter. Sponsorship reduces the amount, but only count money that is contracted and collectible, not hoped-for offers.

What each ticket contributes. A ticket's contribution is its net price after platform fees you absorb (and any refunds you assume) minus the cost of having that guest in the room: wristband, staffing per head, drink tokens. Break-even tickets = fixed costs minus sponsorship, divided by that contribution, rounded up. If the contribution is zero or negative, no number of tickets covers the bill, and the tool says so instead of showing a huge figure.

Capacity check. Room capacity minus comps, guest list and holds is the number of paid spots you can actually sell. If break-even is above that, the plan fails on paper before anyone buys a ticket.

Worked example

Fixed costs: venue $1,000, talent $600, security $400, insurance $150, marketing $250, equipment $200, total $2,600.00, no sponsorship. Ticket $20.00, fees absorbed: Eventbrite takes 3.7% + $1.79 plus 2.9% per ticket, leaving $16.89 net; minus $1.50 per guest gives $15.39. $2,600.00 / $15.39 = 168.94, so 169 tickets. At 180 tickets the profit line shows $170.20. With buyers paying the fees, net per ticket is the full $20.00 and 141 tickets are enough.

Methodology

F = venue + talent + security + insurance + marketing + equipment + other + promoter pay. S = contracted sponsorship. n = net per ticket: if you absorb fees, price x (1 - refund share) - (service % x price + flat service fee) - (processing % x price + flat per order / tickets per order); if buyers pay, price x (1 - refund share). v = cost per paid guest. Break-even tickets = ceil((F - S) / (n - v)). Usable capacity = room capacity - comps and holds. Profit at your expected tickets = tickets x (n - v) - (F - S). Per-guest cost is applied to paid tickets only; add comps' cost to fixed costs if they eat or drink at your expense.

What this page does not cover

• A percentage-of-door or per-head promoter deal; enter the expected dollar amount as promoter compensation instead.
• Bar, table or bottle income that may carry the night. This page counts ticket revenue and contracted sponsorship only.
• Sales tax or VAT added to tickets, local amusement or entertainment taxes, and any tax on your own profit. For US self-employment tax see IRS Topic 554; this is general information, not tax advice.
• Prices in other currencies, currency conversion, and any platform fee schedule that is not typed into the rate boxes. Rates change, so check the platform before you publish tickets.
• Chargebacks, no-shows, door sales, bar or merchandise income, and unsold comps. Add them to costs or sponsorship yourself if you want them in the answer.

Sources

• Eventbrite organizer pricing page: 3.7% + $1.79 service fee per paid ticket, 2.9% payment processing per order, no fees for free events, fees paid by buyers by default, retrieved 19 October 2026.
• Eventbrite Help Center, Understanding your event payout amount: passing on vs absorbing fees, payout timing, 20% reserve on scheduled payouts, refunds and chargebacks, retrieved 19 October 2026.

Break-even and reverse-price arithmetic is standard cost-volume-profit maths worked from first principles, not copied from any single write-up.