MSG Entertainment generated revenues of USD $217.1 million in calendar Q3 (the three months to September 30, its fiscal first quarter), up 37% YoY.
The quarter included a new record for the number of concerts held at Madison Square Garden in any single quarter, according to the company. MSG Entertainment also reported a quarterly concert record at the Garden in the same period a year earlier.
This year’s record came as Harry Styles opened a 30-night residency at the arena on August 26.
MSG Entertainment CFO David Collins said on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday (November 4) that 16 of those shows fell within the quarter, a little over half of the run.
Bon Jovi (nine shows) and Phish (five) also played residencies at the Garden in July, within the same quarter.
When Susquehanna analyst Joseph Stauff asked what the pipeline looks like now that the Styles run has ended, Collins said: “And while it’s early to discuss fiscal 2028 and beyond, let me just say that we are continuing to have discussions with other artists about future [residencies] at all of our venues, including the Garden.”
Residencies “build more of a recurring base of business for us, and they also increase visibility into our forward calendar,” Collins said.
“So booking residencies remains a really important area for our bookings business and is really a key focus of our team,” he added.
He also pointed to Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi’s residency at Radio City Music Hall, as well as long-running residencies from Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Jerry Seinfeld at the Beacon Theatre.
“THAT INCLUDED THE START OF HARRY STYLES’ 30-NIGHT RESIDENCY DURING THE QUARTER, WHICH HELPED US DELIVER A NEW RECORD FOR THE NUMBER OF CONCERTS IN ANY QUARTER AT THE GARDEN.”
DAVID COLLINS, MSG ENTERTAINMENT
“During the quarter, we hosted over 1.3 million guests across 160 live events,” said Collins. “This reflected broad-based booking strength from concerts, performing art shows to special events.
“That included the start of Harry Styles’ 30-night residency during the quarter, which helped us deliver a new record for the number of concerts in any quarter at the Garden.”
Revenues from concerts rose by $30.1 million YoY, which MSG Entertainment attributed to more concerts at the Garden and higher per-concert revenue, partly offset by fewer concerts at its theaters.
Food, beverage, and merchandise revenues rose 56% YoY to $35.7 million, primarily due to a $12.5 million increase in food and beverage sales at concerts.
According to Collins, combined food, beverage, and merchandise per-capita spending at concerts was up by a double-digit percentage YoY.
Adjusted operating income rose to $34.3 million from $7.1 million a year earlier, while the company swung to net income of $8.9 million (including a $6.6 million income tax benefit) from a net loss of $21.7 million.
“Our business is off to a strong start in fiscal 2027,” said Executive Chairman and CEO James L. Dolan. “We expect our live entertainment offerings to continue benefiting from healthy demand and we remain well positioned to drive robust growth in both revenue and adjusted operating income this fiscal year.”
MSG announced the residency in January, saying the shows would be Styles’ only US dates of 2026 and the most at any venue on his Together, Together world tour.
In a statement marking the final show on October 31, MSG said more than half a million fans “from every state and 79 countries” attended the run.
Asked on the call how much the residency had contributed, Collins said: “In terms of your question on incrementality, while it’s difficult to answer that question with precision, we believe that the Garden did deliver robust growth in the number of concerts year-over-year on an underlying basis.
“Obviously, Harry Styles’ run was an additional positive on top of that underlying strength.”
Collins said MSG Entertainment has “slightly exceeded” its concert bookings goal at the Garden for fiscal 2027 and is more than 80% of the way to its goal across its venue portfolio.
He added that Madison Square Garden still expects to host more concerts YoY in the December quarter but is currently pacing down in the second half of the fiscal year, which he described as “just timing.”
The sell-through rate for concerts over the next two quarters “is currently pacing ahead of where it was the same time last year,” said Collins.
Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen Laszczyk, co-author of the bank’s Music in the Air report, asked on the call whether macroeconomic volatility was showing up in consumer demand.
Collins said MSG Entertainment is “certainly keeping a close eye on the macro environment,” but added: “I have to say, we continue to see strong consumer demand.”
He said “the significant majority of concerts at our venues were again sold out this past quarter,” and that concerts had performed “better than we initially expected.”
MSG Entertainment has added shows for “a number of upcoming acts” due to strong demand, he said, while its renewal rate for suite licenses this fiscal year is “over 95%.”
Elsewhere on the call, Collins said MSG Entertainment is still working toward definitive agreements over the potential transfer of the Infosys Theater at Madison Square Garden to a master developer as part of the Penn Station redevelopment.
No decisions have been made on how any proceeds would be used, he said, but the primary way to minimize the tax hit “would be to reinvest all of the potential proceeds in another domestic venue.”
New York is MSG Entertainment’s core market, Collins added, and “with us having one less theater here, we would definitely most likely look to the New York market first.”
MSG Entertainment’s results arrived a day after HYBE reported record quarterly concert revenue of KRW 726.8 billion (approximately $512 million), up 196.7% YoY, led by BTS’s ARIRANG world tour.
In July, Live Nation reported a 10% YoY rise in concert attendance to 49 million fans in Q2.
“More artists are on the road than ever – and fans keep choosing to be in the room with them, driving the strongest concert ticket sales we’ve ever seen,” said Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino at the time.
Back in New York, MSG Entertainment’s Christmas Spectacular production is set to open its 2026 run at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, with a record 231 performances planned, up from 215 last year.
On the call, Collins also congratulated Josephine Vaccarello, who was named President of MSG Entertainment in September after nearly 30 years with the company, most recently as EVP of Live.Music Business Worldwide
