After a year of playing host to more than 960 live events and 6.3 million ticket holders, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. said on Friday revenues rose 13% in its first full year since spinning off from the Sphere.
Last April, MSG spun off from MSG Sphere, the next-generation music venue in Las Vegas, leaving behind the rest of its live events business under the company name MSG Entertainment. MSGE includes venues such as Madison Square Garden, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theatre and The Chicago Theatre, an entertainment and sports booking business, the Radio City Rockettes and the Christmas Spectacular production, and long-term arena license agreements with New York Knicks and New York Rangers, which play their home games at Madison Square Garden.
Executives attributed this year’s revenue growth to a record number of shows at the Garden in the fourth quarter, which included Billy Joel‘s 150th show at Madison Square Garden and two sold-out shows by the breakout singer songwriter Noah Kahan, and said they expect even more next year.
“The world’s most famous arena ended the year on a particularly strong note with robust year over year growth in the number of concerts in fourth quarter,” MSG Entertainment chief financial officer Mike Grau said on a call with investors. “This reflects our efforts to increase venue utilization within the Knicks and Rangers playoff window, as well as our success in attracting acts that are headlining the Garden for the first time.”
A majority of events at the company’s venues sold out in the quarter and saw higher per capita spending on food, beverage and merchandise. Grau said a higher number of shows in the coming fiscal year are expected to boost the company’s adjusted operating income by high-single to low double-digit percentage increase.
MSG Entertainment reported revenues of $959.3 million for the full fiscal year ending June 30, up 13% from fiscal year 2023. It reported an operating income of $111.9 million, up $6.9 million, and adjusted operating income of $211.5 million, up $9.9 million, both compared to fiscal 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s $186.1 million in revenue for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 was up 26% from the year-ago quarter. MSG recorded an operating loss of $8.9 million in the quarter and adjusted operating income of $13.1 million, both improvements over the prior year’s quarter.
Revenues from food, beverage and merchandise sales in the fourth fiscal quarter rose 48% to $34.7 million compared to the prior year period.
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