Business of Broadway: Do early birds catch the worms?

We see this word everywhere now; presale. A new Broadway show suddenly announces tickets. Major concerts go on sale. A star performer adds more dates. An impromptu event.  Then, before tickets are supposedly available to the general public, thousands of people probably already have access to them. What kinds of discussions and strategies are behind a presale? On a cursory level it is pretty straight forward. A presale gives a particular group of customers the opportunity to buy tickets before the announced sale to the general public. Access to these folks might come through an email list, a fan club, a credit card company, a theater, a producer, a promotional partner or simply from codes sent to particular audiences who have previously purchased tickets. The business and marketing intention behind presale is more telling. A large part of it to create buzz, heat, and a big rush to buy. Tell people tickets go on sale Friday and they may think about buying them that day