Thank you for standing by, welcome to the Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. fiscal 2026 third 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.
Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MSG Entertainment's fiscal 2026 third quarter earnings conference call. On today's call, David Collins, our EVP and Chief Financial Officer, will provide an update on the company's operations and review 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 investors 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 four and five 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. With that, I'll now turn the call over to David.
Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. We're now in the final stretch of fiscal 2026, and I'm pleased to say that demand for our live entertainment offerings remains strong. For the company's fiscal third quarter, we generated revenues of $246 million and adjusted operating income of $46 million. Behind these results were a number of important drivers, including continued momentum in our concert business at The Garden, growth in marketing partnerships and suites, and the last shows of this past season's record-setting Christmas Spectacular run. Looking ahead, we expect to close out fiscal 2026 on a positive note, led by a significant increase in the number of concerts at The Garden in our fiscal fourth quarter compared to last year. We remain on track to deliver robust full-year growth in revenue and AOI.
What's especially encouraging is that we already see this momentum carrying into fiscal 2027, with our concert calendar filling up, including Harry Styles' 30-night residency at the arena and the 2026 Christmas Spectacular production currently on sale. Let's now walk through some of the key operational highlights from the third quarter. During the quarter, our venues welcomed over 1.4 million guests at more than 165 events, reflecting the breadth and diversity of events we are bringing to our venues. That included a year-over-year increase in the number of concerts at The Garden, highlighted by several notable multi-night runs. That growth was partially offset by a decrease in the number of concerts across our theaters. From a demand standpoint, we continue to see the vast majority of concerts at our venues sell out.
In addition, food and beverage per caps at concerts were up in the quarter, while merchandise per caps were down, both of which we primarily attribute to the mix of events. In our family show category, we welcomed back The Westminster Kennel Club to The Garden for the dog show's 150th anniversary. On the sports booking side, we had a busy quarter with college basketball, including St. John's and The Big East Tournament, along with boxing, professional bull riding, and WWE. On the special events front, we faced a tough comparison against the prior year quarter, which benefited from Saturday Night Live's multi-day takeover of Radio City for its 50th anniversary special. However, we are looking forward to hosting The Tony Awards at the venue next month.
Turning to the Christmas Spectacular, the show's 92nd holiday season concluded in January with a record-setting run, generating approximately $195 million in total revenues across 215 paid performances. 16 of those shows took place in our fiscal third quarter, delivering year-over-year growth in per-show ticketing revenue. As I mentioned earlier, sales for the 2026 holiday season are now underway. With 230 shows currently on sale, we believe the production is well-positioned to deliver growth again next fiscal year. Our fiscal third quarter also included the continuation of the Knicks' and Rangers' 2025, 2026 regular seasons at The Garden. Once again, we saw higher per game revenues across our various revenue and profit-sharing arrangements with MSG Sports as compared to the prior year.
Lastly, on the marketing partnerships and premium hospitality front, fiscal 2026 has been highlighted by several notable sponsorship announcements, while we have also seen strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at The Garden this year. We remain on track for growth across both of these businesses in fiscal 2026. Now let's turn to our financial results. For the fiscal 2026 third quarter, we reported revenues of $246.3 million, an increase of two percent as compared to the prior year quarter. This reflected an increase in revenues from entertainment offerings, partially offset by lower arena license fees and other leasing revenues, as well as a decrease in food, beverage, and merchandise revenues. The increase in revenues from entertainment offerings primarily reflected growth in suite license fee revenues, including amounts subject to the sharing of economics with MSG Sports.
As we discussed earlier, we also benefited from strong growth in the number of concerts at the Garden during the quarter. In addition, revenues from our Christmas Spectacular production increased year-over-year, primarily due to higher per-show ticket revenue and one additional performance in the quarter, both as compared to the prior year period. The overall increase in revenues from entertainment offerings was partially offset by a decrease in revenues from other live entertainment and sporting events. This reflected a decrease in the number of events at our venues, including the absence of Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special and the final shows of Annie's extended holiday run in the prior year quarter. Additionally, as mentioned earlier, we saw a decrease in the number of concerts at the company's theaters this quarter.
Arena license fees and other leasing revenues decreased year-over-year, primarily due to the Knicks and Rangers playing fewer home games during the fiscal third quarter, partially offset by higher other leasing revenues. Similarly, the modest decrease in food, beverage, and merchandise revenues mainly reflected the impact of fewer Knicks and Rangers home games during the current year quarter, which was partially offset by higher food and beverage sales at concerts. Third quarter adjusted operating income of $46 million decreased $12 million as compared to the prior year quarter. This primarily reflects higher direct operating and SG&A expenses, partially offset by the increase in revenues. Turning to our balance sheet, as of March 31st, we had $323 million of unrestricted cash, up from $157 million as of December 31st.
This increase reflects strong cash flow generation, as well as an increase in cash due to promoters, primarily due to future events at The Garden. In addition, our debt balance at quarter end was $587 million. As a reminder, we have repurchased approximately 623,000 shares of our Class A common stock for $25 million fiscal year to date. We have approximately $45 million remaining under our current buyback authorization, and going forward, we will continue to explore ways to opportunistically return capital to shareholders. In summary, as we approach the end of the fiscal year, we remain on a clear path to delivering a robust fiscal 2026 and believe we are well-positioned to drive long-term value for our shareholders. I will now turn the call back over to Ari.
Thanks, David. Operator, can we now open up the call for questions, please?
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one to raise your hand. To withdraw your question, please press star one again. We ask that you pick up your handset when asking a question. If you are muted locally, please remember to unmute your device. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Peter Henderson with Bank of America. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, and thank you for taking the question. There have been several press reports recently around the Penn Station redevelopment, I think including some commentary from President Trump in the New York Post indicating that his preferred path for the project is to keep the Garden where it currently sits. Can you just update us on your conversations related to the Penn Station renovation and the impact to the Infosys Theater? Thank you.
Yeah, good morning, Peter. Thanks for the question. You know, while I really don't want to comment on press reports, you know, here's what I will share with you. The U.S. Department of Transportation and Amtrak, you know, they continue to reiterate their intended project schedule and, you know, based on that reported timeline, RFP submissions were recently due from the three shortlisted bidders. Amtrak is now expected to select a master developer this month and to announce the preliminary design in June. You know, as redevelopment of the area continues, we are fully committed to collaborating closely with all the stakeholders. You know, with that said, you know, we don't really have much more to report than that, we will certainly keep you know, posted as the, you know, as there's progress.
Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of Stephen Laszczyk with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks for taking the questions. David, I was hoping you could give us an update on how you're thinking about the opportunity for capital return. I think in the past you've mentioned that you would think about taking an opportunistic approach to buybacks. It doesn't sound like there was stock bought back in the March quarter. Curious if there's been an opportunity since or if there's any more color you could provide on how you're thinking about either buybacks or dividends moving forward.
Sure, Stephen, thanks for the question. You know, in terms of buying back stock, you know, we take a number of factors into account, you know, in determining when we repurchase shares and, you know, that includes the forward outlook for our business, which remains very positive. You know, however, you know, sometimes, you know, even including subsequent to our last earnings call in February, you know, opportunities to repurchase shares present themselves when we don't find ourselves in an open window period. You know, that said, if you look at our track record since our spin-off, you'll see that, you know, we have bought back a substantial amount of stock, you know.
Going forward, you know, we will continue to look for opportunities, you know, within the context of our, you know, three broader capital allocation priorities, which, you know, once again are in maintaining a strong balance sheet, having appropriate flexibility to pursue growth opportunities when and if they arise, and, you know, and also opportunistically returning capital to our shareholders.
Great. Thanks for that. Maybe just on expenses, the underlying cost structure came in a bit elevated in the quarter. I was just hoping you could unpack some of that for us, how we should be thinking about the expense lines or margins as we sink into the balance of the year. Thank you.
Sure. Great. There's certainly a number of moving parts this quarter, you know, let me walk you through it. To start, you know, this past quarter included the impact of $ several million of unanticipated costs right across both direct and SG&A expense. You know, this was driven by a few different items. For example, we incurred higher than expected healthcare benefit expenses due to generally higher overall healthcare costs as well as increased claims activity. You can see in today's results that our venue operating costs increased $2.4 million year-over-year, which reflects those higher healthcare expenses, including the impact of truing up some costs to our most recent estimate. In addition, the increase in direct operating expenses reflects the mix of events across our venues.
For example, the year ago quarter had a number of multi-night runs which came, you know, with lower costs and higher margins. For instance, the Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special at Radio City. That was really a mix of events. In terms of SG&A expense, we also saw the impact of those higher healthcare costs there, you know. Even excluding those costs, our SG&A expense grew this quarter. You know, was still elevated and above what we would expect our long-term expense growth rate to be. You know, that includes the impact of higher employee compensation, which is, you know, pretty consistent with what we've said in the past about higher labor costs this fiscal year.
You know, I would say overall, as we look ahead, we expect SG&A expense growth to begin to normalize on a year-over-year basis in our June quarter. Also expect that to carry over into our, you know, the start of our fiscal 2027.
Great. Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of Cameron Mansson-Perrone with Morgan Stanley. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Thanks, and morning. You highlighted a bit in the prepared remarks, but was wondering if you could just elaborate on how concert bookings are pacing in the fiscal fourth quarter and maybe through the rest of the calendar year. Thanks.
Sure. Great, Cameron. Thanks. You know, first I'd like to say again that, you know, we are headed for a strong end to fiscal 2026 at The Garden, that will reflect a significant growth in the number of concerts at The Arena, you know, in our fiscal fourth quarter. In terms of the first half of fiscal 2027, we continue to see a number of positive signs in concert bookings. You know, at this stage, we have substantial visibility into the September quarter, where we are pacing well ahead at The Garden. In fact, we remain on track to shatter our record for number of concerts in any quarter at the venue, which of course includes the impact of the Harry Styles residency.
At our theaters, I would say, you know, we are currently pacing behind for the September quarter. However, you know, as we've said in the past, the bookings window in our theaters is typically three to six months in advance, so, you know, we still have some time and are working to narrow that gap. You know, looking at the December quarter, it's still a bit early to discuss pacing for our theaters given the shorter booking window I just mentioned, but, you know, at The Garden we are again pacing ahead. You know, all in, we are pleased with how our concert bookings are pacing so far for fiscal 2027, and we continue to believe The Garden is likely headed towards another year of strong concert growth in fiscal 2027.
you know, and while still very early, you know, we see potential to drive growth for our theaters as well in the fiscal 2027.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of David Karnovsky with JP Morgan. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Hey, thanks. Maybe just given some of the recent macro rise in energy prices, it'd be good to get your expanded view on demand, both as it relates to current or forward ticket sales or maybe what you're seeing in per caps.
Sure, David. You know, we certainly are always keeping a close eye on the macro environment with, you know, everything going on in the world. I have to say we continue to see strong consumer demand. You know, a number of factors that support that, you know, as I mentioned earlier, a vast majority of our concerts at our venues. We're again sold out this past quarter and overall F&B per cap spending at our concerts was up year-over-year. Year-to-date, we have continued to see concerts perform better than we initially expected. A number of our upcoming acts across our venues have also added additional shows due to strong demand.
You know, when we look at the next two quarters, the sell-through rate for concerts is currently pacing ahead of where it was at the same time last year. I would say given all this, you know, watching the macro environment, you know, we continue to see strong demand from consumers.
Okay. I just wanted to see if you could update on your residency pipeline, both for the Garden and then maybe also the theaters.
David, you came in a little staticky from our end, but I think you're asking about the residency pipeline, so we'll go ahead and answer that.
Sure. Sure, David. you know, as far as residencies go, you know, first I'd like to reiterate that we are off to a strong start in terms of concert bookings for fiscal 2027, and that of course includes the Harry Styles residency at The Garden for 30 nights. I'd also like to add that we have Bon Jovi for a nine-show residency and Phish for a five-show residency at The Garden this summer. you know, at our theaters, Jo Koy will be doing a seven-night residency at Radio City in August. Seth Meyers and John Oliver recently extended their long-running residency at the Beacon Theatre into this fall.
You can see that we believe there's a great value in bringing residencies to our venues, as, you know, we believe it builds more of a recurring base of business and also increases our visibility into the forward calendar. I would say residencies remain an important area for our booking business. You know, while it's early to discuss fiscal 2028 and beyond, we are continuing to have discussions with other artists about future residencies at all the venues, including The Garden, and we will certainly keep you updated on our progress.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of David Joyce with Seaport. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Given the Knicks' strong progress in the playoffs again this year, can you discuss the benefits or headwinds to the Knicks advancing to the MSG Entertainment business? Thank you.
Sure, David. Thanks for the question. I have to say, we are excited to see the Knicks in the second round of the playoffs, and they are off to a great start. You know, as you know, we benefit from playoff games at The Garden through our agreement with MSG Sports in a, you know, a few ways. We share in revenue streams like F&B and merchandise as well as single-night suite sales. As you know, we operate and manage the F&B services during all team events for which MSG shares 50% of the net profits with the Knicks and Rangers. We also operate and manage the team merchandise sales at The Garden and retain 30% of net revenues.
We also earn a commission on the sales of single-night suites at The Garden during Knicks and Rangers games. You know, we benefit during the playoffs here. One other thing to point out as well is, you know, that we believe as that strong team performance, like the Knicks are having right now, will benefit next year in the form of, you know, continued strong arena attendance, you know, which will further benefit those shared revenue streams that, you know, that I just mentioned with sports. I'd also mention, you know, from the booking side, booking concerts during the playoff window continues to be an opportunity that we've been targeting to drive utilization at The Garden and we've had success this fiscal year at doing so.
You know, as I mentioned earlier, we are expecting significant year-over-year growth in the number of concerts at The Garden in our fiscal fourth quarter. That includes an increase in the number of concerts that we book during the playoff window. You know, that's something that we're gonna strive to continue to do.
Great. Thank you.
Thanks, David. Operator, we have time for one last caller.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Joseph Stauff with Susquehanna. Your line is open. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, David, Ari. The value of your Christmas Spectacular obviously is important, continues to grow nicely. You know, you're increasing show count this year 7%. How do you assess demand, you know, versus that seven percent show count? This is gonna be the third year in a row certainly that you're increasing show count, so there is pretty significant obviously demand that continues to grow. How do you think about that? You had mentioned advanced ticket sales. You know, how much or how many of those tickets are sold already? How does that evolve towards, you know, the opening of the show in the December quarter?
Thanks, Joe. Good morning. You know, we definitely see growth potential for next year's Christmas Spectacular, you know, through both more shows, as you mentioned, and higher average ticket yields. As, as you mentioned, we, you know, we are on sale for 230 performances for the next holiday season, you know, up from 215 last year, which translates, as you mentioned, mid-single digit percentage increase in show count year-over-year. You know, one of the things that's important to remember and where we see growth is that, you know, the Christmas Spectacular continues to be a premium entertainment product and we believe it's still priced well below average ticket prices for comparable entertainment options.
You know, I think as we add shows, we will be thoughtfully managing marketing and pricing our ticket inventory to maximize revenue for each show. You know, in terms of advanced ticket sales, we initially went on sale just in March and we'll begin marketing the production over the summer. I think it's a little bit early in the sales cycle to discuss pacing as of now. You know, again, we are confident in the growth opportunity for this 2026 holiday season.
We have reached the end of the Q&A session. I will now turn the call back to Ari for closing remarks.
Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to speaking with you on our next earnings call. Have a good day.
This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.