After a year of hosting more than 960 live events and attracting 6.3 million ticket holders, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. said Friday its revenue rose 13 percent in the first full year since spinning off the Sphere theme.
In April last year, MSG split from MSG Sphere, the next-generation music venue in Las Vegas, is leaving the rest of its live event business under the corporate name MSG Entertainment. MSGE includes venues such as Madison Square Garden, Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theater and The Chicago Theater, an entertainment and sports booking company, the Radio City Rockettes and the Christmas spectacle Production and long-term arena licensing agreements with the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers, who play their home games at Madison Square Garden.
Executives attributed this year’s increase in revenue to a record number of performances at the Garden in the fourth quarter, including Billy Joel’s 150th show at Madison Square Garden and two sold-out shows by rising singer-songwriter Noah Kahan. They said they expect even more next year.
“The world’s most famous arena ended the year on a particularly strong note, with strong year-on-year growth in concert numbers in the fourth quarter,” said MSG Entertainment’s CFO. Mike Gray he said in a conference call with investors. “This reflects our efforts to increase venue occupancy during the Knicks and Rangers playoff period, as well as our success in attracting acts headlining at the Garden for the first time.”
Most events at the company’s venues sold out during the quarter and saw higher per capita spending on food, beverages and merchandise. Grau said a higher number of shows in the coming fiscal year should increase the company’s adjusted operating income by a high single-digit to low double-digit percentage.
MSG Entertainment reported revenue of $959.3 million for the full fiscal year ended June 30, up 13% from fiscal 2023. Operating income was $111.9 million, up $6.9 million, and adjusted operating income was $211.5 million, up $9.9 million, both compared to fiscal 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the company’s revenue of $186.1 million in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024 was up 26% from the year-ago quarter. MSG reported an operating loss of $8.9 million and adjusted operating income of $13.1 million for the quarter, both improvements over the year-ago quarter.
Revenue from the sale of food, beverages and merchandise increased 48% to $34.7 million in the fourth fiscal quarter compared to the same period last year.
