Event ROI, calculated honestly

Return on investment for events gets fudged in both directions — organisers forget costs (their time, fee load) and forget revenues (bar spend, sponsorship, list growth). The framework below counts both sides properly.

The formula and what goes in it

The single most common error: using gross ticket revenue. A £10,000 gross at 10% fan-side fees with 30% absorbed marketing costs is not £10,000 of return.

Worked example

400-cap club night: 350 tickets at £15 = £5,250 gross. Fees passed to fans, so net ticket revenue £5,250. Bar deal returns £800. Costs: £1,800 venue/production, £900 DJs, £400 marketing, £150 misc = £3,250.

1. Return = £5,250 + £800 = £6,050
2. ROI = (£6,050 − £3,250) ÷ £3,250 = 86%
3. Same night with fees absorbed on a 10% + 27p platform: net tickets ≈ £4,630 — ROI drops to 67%. The fee structure alone moved ROI by 19 points.

Benchmarks worth knowing

• Recurring nights that survive settle around 30–80% ROI per event once time is costed; the value compounds through the list and the habit.
• One-off conferences target 25–40% on direct revenue, with sponsorship often the swing factor.
• Community and charity events legitimately run at 0% financial ROI — their return line is the raise or the mission, and fees are pure leakage from it.