What does this mean?  Well, it doesn’t take a David Merrick to know that grosses and attendance are about to go up.

Bigger numbers are always better, and this will enable us to present our industry as an even bigger economic force.  The deductions that come off the Gross Gross vary per show, but it can easily be 10%+ of the total.  Another 10% tacked on to last year’s season’s totals would have put us well over 1 billion buckaroos.  In a year when we’ll be lucky to see an increase, and in an era when our flat lining gross could have put that billion dollar mark well out of our reach for another decade, modifying this reporting virtually guarantees that we’ll get there.

And why shouldn’t we?  As the League has rightly justified, this change puts us in line with other industries, most notably our big brother, Hollywood.  Do you think Hollywood’s grosses are reduced by every credit card surcharge from Fandango?  Nope.  And what about sales of video games, books, etc.?  In fact, I can’t think of any industry, entertainment related or not, that would reduce their sales by credit card service fees?  Do you?  And if there is one, they should change that up pronto.

The attendance modification, while not as justifiable as the reporting of the Gross Gross, still makes sense to me.  Frankly, the release of numbers in any private industry depends solely on how that industry wants to present itself, and the League has decided that the number of bodies present rather than just the number of paid bodies present is a better number to show.  Does it make us look better?  You bet.  That’s why press is all about.  Think about it this way, if you had to give a presentation to a big group of people, wouldn’t you comb your hair, put on some makeup, and make yourself look as good as possible so you would make a good impression?

For those that feel they’re getting an artificial financial perspective of the figures, don’t worry, the average paid admission is still being released, so you’ll still be able to get a sense of the ‘value of the experience’ for those Total Total attendees.

The only thing that concerns me is the inability for us to compare year over year over year of figures. Thankfully, the League has made some adjustments to last year’s figures, but any comparisons beyond that will be skewed.

But, the change had to be made, and so it was.  To those whose feathers may be ruffled, I ask them . . . if it had been this way from the beginning, would you have ever thought it to be odd?

And more importantly, would you ever have asked for it to be changed?