Call it a watermelon sugar high.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) reported on Wednesday (Nov. 4) that its fiscal first quarter revenue surged 37% to $217 million, boosted by an additional $30 million from concerts, including Harry Styles’ record-setting sold-out residency at the company’s namesake theater.
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While MSGE executives acknowledged that demand for live entertainment is not the same as it was in the boom years following the pandemic, the company said revenue from its entertainment offerings surged 33% to $174.9 million this quarter compared to a year ago. Food, beverage and merchandise revenue jumped 56% to $35.7 million — with roughly one-third coming from sales at concerts — and arena license fees and other leasing revenue were up 60.2% to $6.59 million.
“We had a robust fiscal first quarter with the Garden shattering our record for the number of concerts in any quarter held at the venue,” said executive vp/CEO David Collins on a conference call discussing the results. “Especially given the macro volatility, we continue to see strong consumer demand. The significant majority of concerts at our venues were again sold out. Throughout the quarter, concerts performed better than we expected. We saw combined [food, beverage] and merchandise per capita spending at concerts up double-digit percentages. A number of upcoming acts across our venues added additional shows due to strong demand.”
Sixteen of Styles’ 30-night New York leg of his Together, Together tour, which held the stage at Madison Square Garden every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night for 10 straight weeks, occurred in MSGE’s first fiscal quarter, which ended on Sept. 30.
MSGE reported higher per-concert revenue in the quarter, as tickets to Styles’ New York shows reportedly ranged in price from under $100 to well over $1,000. An increase in the overall number of concerts at its venues also provided a strong boost to revenue and food, beverage and merch sales.
“The Garden did deliver robust growth in the number of concerts year over year on an underlying basis,” Collins said. “Obviously, Harry Styles’ run was an additional positive on top of that underlying strength.”
More events always result in higher costs for MSGE, which reported that direct operating expenses for entertainment offerings, arena license fees and other leasing rose 22% to $107.6 million, including an $11 million increase from concerts. Food, beverage and merchandise direct operating expenses rose 39% to $19.1 million.
Adjusted operating income increased by $27.2 million to $34.3 million for the quarter compared to the prior-year quarter on higher revenue, partially offset by higher direct operating expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses.
