What Does a Ticket Sales Representative Do?
Most weeks in a ticket office bring a steady flow of phone and online orders. The busiest days are on-sale dates and playoff runs, when calls stack up and good seats go fast. Ticket sales representatives handle both, selling single tickets, season packages and group outings for sports teams, theaters and concert venues.
Also known as: Box Office Assistant, Outside Ticket Sales Representative
Ticket Sales Representative Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of a ticket sales representative include:
- Sell season tickets, mini-plans and single-game seats by phone, email and in person.
- Call past buyers and new leads each day to meet weekly sales targets.
- Put together group outings for schools, companies and clubs, arranging seating and extras.
- Process orders, exchanges and refunds in Ticketmaster, Tessitura or the venue's own system.
- Work the box office window on busy nights, printing tickets and fixing mobile ticket problems.
- Explain seating charts, sightlines and accessible seating options to buyers.
- Record every contact and sale in the CRM so renewals can be tracked.
- Renew season ticket holders before the deadline and help them upgrade seats.
- Host prospects at games and shows to showcase seating and premium areas.
- Balance the cash drawer and card receipts at the end of each shift.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as a ticket sales representative, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Phone and email sales
- Ticketing systems such as Ticketmaster or Tessitura
- CRM habits: logging every contact
- Persistence after hearing no
- Knowledge of the venue's seating and prices
- Friendly, clear customer service
- Cash handling
- Flexibility for game nights and weekends
Education and Training
With experience, you could progress from box office assistant to inside sales, then to outside ticket sales or a group sales manager role. Most employers train new reps on the job. Teams often hire recent graduates into inside sales programs, and a high school diploma meets the minimum for most box office work.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel), the middle half of earners made $47,670 to $100,480 a year, and the median was $69,990.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel.
BLS projects employment in its broad group of services sales representatives to grow about 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, with roughly 115,700 openings a year. That group covers many kinds of service sales, and box office pay often sits below its median of about $70,000 in May 2025. Entry-level inside sales jobs tend to turn over quickly, so openings come up often.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel.
Ticket Sales Representative Pay Range
| Earners | Annual pay |
|---|---|
| Bottom 10% earn less than | $37,980 |
| Bottom 25% earn less than | $47,670 |
| Median (half earn more, half less) | $69,990 |
| Top 25% earn more than | $100,480 |
| Top 10% earn more than | $148,840 |
Highest-Paying States for Ticket Sales Representatives
The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are New York ($92,190), Massachusetts ($83,760), Rhode Island ($81,450), California ($80,850), Washington ($79,920). Pay is lowest in Arkansas ($50,570), West Virginia ($50,240), Mississippi ($48,440).
Median pay in all 51 states with BLS data
| State | Median annual pay |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $58,840 |
| Alaska | $69,610 |
| Arizona | $72,920 |
| Arkansas | $50,570 |
| California | $80,850 |
| Colorado | $79,810 |
| Connecticut | $76,940 |
| Delaware | $67,540 |
| District of Columbia | $76,770 |
| Florida | $60,660 |
| Georgia | $75,280 |
| Hawaii | $58,500 |
| Idaho | $58,930 |
| Illinois | $66,900 |
| Indiana | $63,960 |
| Iowa | $62,420 |
| Kansas | $62,580 |
| Kentucky | $52,750 |
| Louisiana | $55,200 |
| Maine | $63,900 |
| Maryland | $63,310 |
| Massachusetts | $83,760 |
| Michigan | $73,380 |
| Minnesota | $75,370 |
| Mississippi | $48,440 |
| Missouri | $60,440 |
| Montana | $58,720 |
| Nebraska | $57,770 |
| Nevada | $62,450 |
| New Hampshire | $71,510 |
| New Jersey | $79,200 |
| New Mexico | $61,880 |
| New York | $92,190 |
| North Carolina | $62,620 |
| North Dakota | $66,060 |
| Ohio | $59,390 |
| Oklahoma | $54,990 |
| Oregon | $67,040 |
| Pennsylvania | $64,480 |
| Rhode Island | $81,450 |
| South Carolina | $58,510 |
| South Dakota | $61,770 |
| Tennessee | $60,230 |
| Texas | $61,680 |
| Utah | $62,580 |
| Vermont | $77,530 |
| Virginia | $72,640 |
| Washington | $79,920 |
| West Virginia | $50,240 |
| Wisconsin | $64,020 |
| Wyoming | $58,970 |
Tools and Software Ticket Sales Representatives Use
Software
Is This Job a Good Fit for You?
People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.
Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 2 of 5, which means some preparation.
Related Careers
These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:
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Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035.
- O*NET 30.1 Database, occupation 41-3091.00 (Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel). View on O*NET OnLine.
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