After a year of hosting more than 960 live events and 6.3 million ticket holders, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. said Friday that revenue rose 13% in its first full year after spinning off from Sphere.
Last April, MSG withdrew from MSG Sphere, the next-generation music venue in Las Vegas, leaving behind the remaining live event operations under the MSG Entertainment brand. MSGE includes venues such as Madison Square Garden, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Beacon Theater and The Chicago Theatre, an entertainment and sports booking business, the Radio City Rockettes and Spectacular Christmas production and long-term arena license agreements with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, who play their home games at Madison Square Garden.
Executives attributed this year's revenue growth to a record number of concerts at the Garden in the fourth quarter, which included Billy Joel's 150th appearance at Madison Square Garden and two sold-out concerts by singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, and said they expect more to come. next year.
“The world's most famous arena ended the year on a particularly strong note with strong year-over-year growth in the number of concerts in the fourth quarter,” said MSG Entertainment CFO Mike Grau he said on a call with investors. “This reflects our efforts to increase venue usage during the Knicks and Rangers playoff window, as well as our success in attracting first-time acts to the Garden.”
The majority of events at the company's venues sold out in the quarter and there was higher per capita spending on food, beverage and merchandise. Grau said a higher number of reports next fiscal year is expected to boost the company's adjusted operating income with a high single- to low-double-digit growth rate.
MSG Entertainment reported revenue of $959.3 million for the full fiscal year ended June 30, up 13% from fiscal 2023. It reported operating income of $111.9 million, up $6.9 million and adjusted operating income $211.5 million, both up $9.9 million from fiscal 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the company's revenue of $186.1 million for the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 was up 26% from the previous quarter. MSG posted an operating loss of $8.9 million in the quarter and adjusted operating income of $13.1 million, both improvements over the year-ago quarter.
Revenue from food, beverage and merchandise sales in the fiscal fourth quarter increased 48% to $34.7 million compared to the year-ago period.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/msg-entertainment-earnings-revenue-growth-record-shows/
