MSG Entertainment - Earnings Call - Q2 2025

Executive Summary

• Revenue was $407.4M (+1% YoY) with Adjusted Operating Income (AOI) $164.0M (+2% YoY); diluted EPS was $1.56 vs $2.59 YoY, reflecting seasonality and a tougher comparison on taxes and concert mix.
• The Christmas Spectacular delivered a record season: ~1.1M tickets across 200 shows and >$170M in revenue, with record per-cap spending and the strongest sell-through rate in 25 years; AOI growth for FY25 remains “mid- to high single-digit” and on track.
• Management resumed buybacks ($25M in Q2) and repaid the $55M revolver; net leverage ~3x and $85M remains under authorization, supporting capital returns and de-leveraging.
• Concert bookings pace behind for March/June at The Garden and theaters (near-term headwind), but FY26 bookings are pacing up vs record FY25 Q1, driven by multi-night runs and residencies (medium-term tailwind).
• Key catalysts: record holiday performance, premium hospitality strength, growing suite economics with MSG Sports, and sponsorship momentum (e.g., Waterloo and Abu Dhabi partnerships).

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Record-setting Christmas Spectacular: ~1.1M tickets, 200 performances, >$170M revenue; “average per show revenue increased by a low double-digit percentage” and “record per caps,” underscoring robust demand and pricing execution.
• MSG Sports economics strengthened: arena license fees and other leasing revenue +16% YoY to $29.8M; higher suite license fees increased revenues shared with MSG Sports.
• Balance sheet and capital allocation: revolver fully repaid ($55M); $25M buybacks; net leverage ~3x; quarterly principal payments $4.1M continue—returning capital while deleveraging.
• Quote: “We remain confident in the strength of our business and expect to deliver solid adjusted operating income growth this fiscal year.” — James L. Dolan.

What Went Wrong

• EPS decline YoY: diluted EPS $1.56 vs $2.59 prior year; income tax expense was $49.5M vs $1.1M YoY, pressuring net income despite operating strength.
• Concert mix/headwinds: event-related revenues -$22.5M due to mix shift from promoted to rentals and fewer Garden concerts; SG&A +18% YoY partly from $4.5M executive transition costs.
• Near-term bookings softness: The Garden pacing behind for March/June; theaters behind for March (up for June); earlier cancellations (now normalized) and spring scarcity in arena-level supply remain a headwind for Q3/Q4.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good morning. Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call over to Ari Danes, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury. Please go ahead.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to MSG Entertainment's Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. On today's call, Lee Weinberg, our Interim Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Business and Financial Operations, will provide an update on the company's operations. I will then conclude with a review of our financial results for the period.

After our prepared remarks, we will open up the call for questions. If you do not have a copy of today's earnings release, it is available in the investor section of our corporate website. Please take note of the following:

Today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for a discussion of risks and uncertainties. The company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be discussed during this call. On pages five and six of today's earnings release, we provide consolidated statements of operations and a reconciliation of operating income to adjusted operating income or AOI, a non-GAAP financial measure. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Lee.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. As we move into the second half of our fiscal year, we are seeing strong demand from our offerings as consumers continue to demonstrate their desire for shared in-person experiences. This was evident in the company's fiscal second quarter results with revenues of $407 million and adjusted operating income of $164 million. This was led by the Christmas Spectacular, which, in its 91st holiday season, achieved record-setting results across a number of metrics.

During the quarter, we also welcomed back the Knicks and Rangers to the Garden for the start of their 2024-2025 regular seasons, and we are seeing positive momentum in our economic arrangements with the teams.On the bookings front, while we are facing a tough year-over-year comparison at the Garden, which had a record number of concerts last year, we continue to fill our calendar and expect to grow the overall number of bookings events at our venues in fiscal 2025.

So, coming off of our seasonally busiest quarter, we remain on track to deliver mid to high single-digit AOI growth this year. In addition, the strength of our business has enabled us to opportunistically return capital to shareholders. During the quarter, we resumed our buyback program with the repurchase of $25 million of our Class A common stock. Let's now review second quarter operational highlights. Across our portfolio of venues, we hosted nearly 2.7 million guests at more than 440 live entertainment and sporting events during the quarter.

As I mentioned earlier, these results were led by the success of the Christmas Spectacular.For the show's 91st holiday season, the production included new immersive elements, which were well received by our guests. While we initially went on sale with 197 performances, we added shows throughout the run due to strong demand, ending at 200 total performances. This compares to 193 shows last season.

Across eight weeks of performances, we sold approximately 1.1 million tickets, leading to the show's strongest sell-through rate in 25 years. These results were driven by robust demand for individual tickets as our business continues to benefit from the ongoing recovery of New York City tourism. At the same time, average ticket yields across both individual and group sales grew year over year as we continue to thoughtfully manage, market, and price our ticket inventory.

In addition, per-cap spending on food, beverage, and merchandise reached record levels for the show.Putting it all together, average per-show revenue increased by a low double-digit % as compared to fiscal 2024 and resulted in over $170 million in total revenue for the Christmas Spectacular this season, a new record for the production and a testament to the show's enduring appeal. Turning to bookings, during the fiscal second quarter, we saw a decrease year over year in the number of events across our venues.

This was primarily driven by a lower number of concerts at both our theaters and the Garden, which includes the absence of three Billy Joel performances that took place in the prior year quarter. That said, consumers continue to show their enthusiasm for our in-person events, with the majority of concerts selling out during the quarter. In terms of in-venue spending, combined food, beverage, and merchandise per-caps at concerts were up year over year.

Outside of concerts, we had a busy schedule of family shows and sporting events during the quarter. At The Chicago Theatre and The Theater at Madison Square Garden, we welcomed the musical Annie for an extended holiday run. At the Garden, we hosted UFC, which was the second highest-grossing event in the arena's history, as well as a sold-out professional tennis event, which made its first appearance at the Garden since 2018.

We continue to expect strong growth in our special events category this fiscal year and are looking forward to a number of high-profile events in the coming months. This includes Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special, set to take place at Radio City Music Hall next week, as well as the Tony Awards in June.During the quarter, the Knicks and Rangers began their 2024-2025 regular seasons at the Garden, and so far, we are seeing positive momentum across our various revenue and profit-sharing arrangements with the teams.

I would also note that as a result of this year's schedules, the Knicks and Rangers played a combined three more home games during the fiscal second quarter as compared to the prior year quarter.

This timing impact will reverse over the balance of the fiscal year. Turning to marketing partnerships and premium hospitality, fiscal 2025 has been highlighted by a number of sponsorship announcements, including new multi-year deals with Lenovo and its subsidiary Motorola, as well as with the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, and a multi-year renewal with Verizon. In terms of premium hospitality, we continue to see strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at the Garden.

That includes our expanded event-level club space, as well as a number of event and Lexus Level suites that were recently renovated. In summary, our fiscal second quarter reflects the robust demand we continue to see in our business. We remain confident in our outlook for solid AOI growth this fiscal year and our ability to generate long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I will now turn the call back over to Ari.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Thank you, Lee. For the fiscal 2025 second quarter, we reported revenues of $407.4 million, an increase of 1% as compared to the prior year quarter. Revenues from entertainment offerings were essentially unchanged year over year, while we saw increases in revenues from food, beverage, and merchandise, as well as arena license fees and other leasing revenues.

Revenues from entertainment offerings primarily reflected lower per-concert revenues, mainly due to a mixed shift at the Garden from promoted events to rentals, and a decrease in the number of concerts at the Garden. In addition, revenues from other live entertainment and sporting events decreased year over year. These decreases were largely offset by growth in the Christmas Spectacular production, primarily due to higher ticket-related revenues.

This reflected higher per-show revenue and, to a lesser extent, two additional performances as compared to the prior year period.In addition, revenues subject to the sharing of economics with MSG Sports pursuant to the arena license agreements also grew year over year, primarily due to higher suite license fee revenues.

The increase in food, beverage, and merchandise revenues primarily reflected the impact of more Knicks and Rangers games and two additional Christmas Spectacular performances, as well as higher per-event revenues across both categories and other revenue increases. This was partially offset by lower food and beverage sales at concerts, primarily at the Garden.

The increase in arena license fees and other leasing revenues included the impact of the Knicks and Rangers playing a combined three additional home games during the fiscal second quarter. Second quarter adjusted operating income of $164 million increased $3.9 million, or 2%, as compared to the prior year quarter.

The increase in adjusted operating income primarily reflects lower direct operating expenses and the increase in revenues, partially offset by higher selling, general, and administrative costs. I would note that the increase in SG&A expenses includes the impact of $3.1 million of executive management transition cash costs incurred in the quarter. Excluding these costs, AOI would have increased $7.1 million, or 4%, as compared to the prior year quarter.

Turning to our balance sheet, as of December 31st, we had approximately $55 million of unrestricted cash. Our debt balance was approximately $618 million, which reflects the paydown of the full $55 million balance under our revolving credit facility during the quarter.

As Lee mentioned earlier, during the quarter, we repurchased $25 million for approximately 682,000 shares of our Class A common stock. As a reminder, we continue to have $85 million remaining under our current buyback authorization.Going forward, we will continue to explore ways to opportunistically return capital to shareholders. With that, Operator, can we now open up the call for questions?

Operator (participant)

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad to raise your hand and join the queue. If you would like to withdraw your question, simply press star one again. Your first question comes from the line of Peter Henderson from Bank of America. Your line is open.

Peter Henderson (Research Analyst)

Good morning, and thank you for taking the question. I'm just wondering, can you provide an update on how concert bookings are pacing for the rest of fiscal 2025, and then also for the first half of fiscal 2026? Thank you.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Thank you, Peter. In terms of this fiscal year, we continue to face a tough year-over-year comparison at the Garden for a number of factors, including the end of the Billy Joel residency. Similar to what we shared on our last Earnings Call, the Garden continues to pace behind for the March and June quarters. Our theaters also continue to pace behind for the March quarter, but they're pacing up for the June quarter.

However, as we look ahead to fiscal 2026, we are seeing a number of positive signs in our bookings business. In terms of the Garden, as you know, our typical booking window is about six to nine months. So now we have a meaningful sample size of the first quarter of fiscal 2026, and we're pleased to say we are pacing up versus what was a record first quarter in fiscal 2025.

This is being driven by a diverse set of acts, including a number of multi-night runs, residencies, new headliners, and repeat headliners, and then with respect to our theaters, our typical booking window is through the six months, so it's still a little early there, and it's a relatively small sample size at this stage.

That said, our theaters are currently pacing ahead for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, so while we're dealing with a tough comp at the Garden this year, it's important to note that we are still expecting a solid year of concerts at the arena, and as we look ahead, we're encouraged by the positive signs we're seeing for fiscal 2026 so far.

Peter Henderson (Research Analyst)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from the line of Stephen Laszczyk from Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Stephen Laszczyk (VP)

Great. Thanks for taking the question. Lee, on Christmas Spectacular, nice performance this year. Could you maybe talk a little bit more about the pricing demand and some of the audience demo trends that played out over the course of this holiday season and how that compared to prior years? And then looking ahead, I'd be curious, any early thoughts on the opportunity to grow Christmas Spectacular off this new higher base? Thank you.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Thanks, Stephen. As you know, the Christmas Spectacular is a cherished New York tradition with a rich history. The show continues to be beloved by guests and consistently generates outstanding customer feedback. This translated into a number of positive signs across ticket demand and pricing, which we believe sets us up for further success. First, we saw strong demand driven by individuals as tourism to New York approaches pre-pandemic levels.

In terms of individual ticket sales, we saw a high teens % increase in tourists attending the show. This strong demand led us to add additional performances during this year's run, and with tourism projected to exceed pre-pandemic levels next year, we think there is an opportunity to increase our show count again next season. Second, we were able to increase our average ticket yield across both individual and group sales by thoughtfully managing, marketing, and pricing our ticket inventory.

The Christmas Spectacular continues to be a premium entertainment product, and it is still priced well below Broadway during the holiday season. Going forward, we continue to believe there are opportunities to more effectively price our ticket inventory and maximize revenues, so we're optimistic that there is continued ticket pricing upside, along with the potential to increase our show count as we look ahead to next year.

Stephen Laszczyk (VP)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Our next question comes from a line of David Karnovsky from JPMorgan. Your line is open.

David Karnovsky (Executive Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Oh, hey. Thank you. So just, you know, as noted, last quarter, you were buying back stock at a price above where you're trading now. I think you called those repurchases prudent in light of your long-term growth. So thought I would ask for an update on your approach, given the outstanding authorization and also considering factors like leverage or cash flow timing? Thank you.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Sure. Hey, David, it's Ari. I'll take your question, so stepping back, I'd start by saying that our company is in a strong position. Our business continues to grow, and we're generating significant free cash flow. In terms of capital allocation, as you've heard us discuss before, we have three core priorities. The first is to make sure we continue to have a strong balance sheet. On that front, our net debt leverage is now approximately three times.

We should naturally deleverage as the business continues to grow, and going forward, we'll continue to make our quarterly principal payments, which are currently $4.1 million per quarter. Our second priority is to ensure we have flexibility to invest in our core business when we see compelling opportunities.Now, this fiscal year, as you know, our capital needs have been modest, and looking out over the near-term horizon, there aren't any material capital projects to flag.

And then lastly, our third priority is to opportunistically return capital to our shareholders, which is precisely what we did this past quarter when we repurchased $25 million of stock. That brought our total share repurchases to $165 million since our April 2023 spinoff. We have $85 million remaining under our current authorization. And looking ahead, we'll continue to explore ways to opportunistically return capital to our holders.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from a line of Cameron Manson-Perrone from Morgan Stanley. Your line is open.

Cameron Mansson-Perrone (Equity Research Lead Analyst)

Thank you. Good morning. Lee, a couple of questions related to the Garden for you, just more generally. First, there's been a lot of news and various proposals over the years around the renovation of Penn Station. I'd be interested to hear your latest expectations there. And then second, there's also been some speculation the Garden may lose its property tax exemption, at least claims that the original intent or logic behind that exemption may be less relevant today than it was historically. We'd like to hear your view or outlook there as well. Thanks.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Hi, Cameron. It's Ari. I'll take your second question first, and then I'll pass it over to Lee on Penn Station. So on the property tax exemption, there's a few points I'll make on this topic that I hope will frame the issue for you. So first, the Garden is an important creator of jobs and economic activity, both in our community and in the city. In addition, the vast majority of major New York sports venues receive some type of governmental incentives and subsidies.

And in fact, our tax abatement is estimated to be hundreds of millions of dollars lower than the amounts received by those sports venues as measured over several decades. I know we know this next point, but in 2013, we obviously completed a $1 billion top-to-bottom renovation of the Garden, and that was done without any subsidies from either New York City or state.

The last point I would note for you is that any repeal of the tax exemption would require action by both houses of the New York State Legislature. Hopefully that color is helpful, and I'll pass it over to Lee.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Thanks, Cameron. As invested members of our community, we're committed to improving Penn Station and the surrounding area. We and our guests are already seeing the benefits of some of the recent improvements that have taken place. We've seen improved ingress and egress at the arena.

The beautification and commercialization efforts have created an enhanced experience for guests that are attending our events. As redevelopment of the area continues, we remain in very close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, and we have nothing further to report at this time.

Cameron Mansson-Perrone (Equity Research Lead Analyst)

Helpful. Thank you both.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from a line of Peter Supino from Wolfe Research. Your line is open.

Peter Supino (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Good morning. Two, if I may. The first is that last quarter, you talked about seeing increased cancellations, and so I wondered if you could update us on that subject, and on Christmas Spectacular, you discussed dynamic pricing. In your prepared remarks, you talked about revenue optimization, and I just wondered how much room there might be to extract more value from dynamic pricing or other tools for the Christmas Spectacular. Thank you.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Great. Thank you for both of those. I'll start with cancellations. Quickly, just to say, things have returned to normal levels. We are not seeing anything out of the ordinary as it comes to cancellations. As you know, cancellations or postponements can happen for a variety of different reasons: artist health, changes in ticket demand, or album release schedules.

At the time of our last Earnings Call in November, we had seen a number of cancellations, primarily at the Garden, and that impacted our concert outlook for fiscal 2025. Subsequent to that call, cancellations have returned to normal levels, and we're not seeing anything out of the ordinary. So for your second question on Christmas and dynamic pricing, as we touched on earlier, we continue to strategically manage, market, and price our ticketing inventory to maximize revenue each season.

Revenue potential for each individual show varies by time of day, day of week, and where we are in the run. And we are continually analyzing sales performance, trends, and market dynamics to inform our sales strategy. On the pricing side, we have multiple levers we use, including dynamic pricing and discounting, to name a few. In terms of dynamic pricing, we implemented a number of tactics this season.

For example, we utilized our data and insights to take a fresh approach to build our show schedule in order to maximize pricing for the highest demand shows. We also started our dynamic pricing efforts earlier in the season based on early data we received. From there, we continued to monitor every show on a seat-by-seat basis and on a week-by-week trend versus the prior year.

All of this allows us to recognize where we can make price changes to maximize revenue. So we continue to get smarter on dynamically pricing our performance throughout the run. While our yield has grown, we remain priced well below Broadway, and we believe there is an opportunity to continue to narrow that gap.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Thanks, Peter. Operator, we will take one last caller.

Operator (participant)

Your final question comes from a line of David Joyce from Seaport Research Partners. Your line is open.

David Joyce (Senior Media and Technology Analyst)

Thank you. Two questions. First, if you could please provide some more color on the opportunity for residencies at your venues. I know you did mention them in your earlier remarks, but do you have any specifics of who would be coming, when, and at which venues? And then separately, on the per-cap spending, just wanted to think about how the signs of the general consumer health look to you in the coming months? Thank you.

Lee Weinberg (Interim CFO and SVP, Business and Financial Operations)

Thanks for both of those. On the residency front, we are proud to have hosted 10 years of Billy Joel's residency. It was an incredible run, and it was a great example of how we've developed new ways to increase venue utilization. We continue to be in discussions with a number of artists for other residencies, and we're excited by the conversations that are taking place. Future residencies at the Garden probably won't look exactly like the Billy Joel one did.

Artists want to put their own unique structure and spin on something like this. Beyond MSG, looking forward, we have a number of upcoming residencies across our theaters. Last month, Hugh Jackman kicked off his 24-show residency at Radio City Music Hall, which runs through October of this year. Next month, at the Beacon, Mike Birbiglia and Nikki Glaser will start their multi-night runs.

And at the Chicago Theatre, next week, Taylor Tomlinson kicks off her multi-night run. Going forward, we'll continue to work with artists to look for unique ways to increase venue utilization. And the second part on consumer demand, we are not seeing any slowdown in consumer demand. In our booking business, the majority of concerts were once again sold out during the quarter. This led to over 90% sell-through for concerts at our venues in the quarter.

For shows that have or will take place in the fiscal third quarter, our sell-through is roughly in line with what we saw last year. And as I mentioned earlier, combined F&B and merchandise per-caps at concerts were up as compared to the Fiscal 2024 second quarter, as well as the Fiscal 2024 full-year average.

Then, of course, we saw very strong consumer demand for this year's Christmas Spectacular, with record revenues, the strongest sell-through rate in 25 years, and record high ticket, food, beverage, and merchandise per caps. We continue to see strong demand for consumers.

Operator (participant)

That concludes our question and answer session. I will now turn the call back over to Ari Danes for closing remarks.

Ari Danes (SVP of Investor Relations and Treasury)

Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you on our next earnings call. Have a good day.

Operator (participant)

This concludes today's Conference Call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.