Sphere Entertainment Co. Reports Third Quarter 2025 ResultsNovember 04, 2025 at 07:30 AM EST
Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) (“Sphere Entertainment” or the “Company”) today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025. Recent highlights for the Company’s Sphere segment include:
In addition, during the third quarter, the Company repurchased approximately $50 million of its Class A common stock, reflecting the Company’s confidence in the long-term growth potential of its Sphere business. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the Company reported revenues of $262.5 million, an increase of $34.6 million, or 15%, as compared to the prior year quarter. In addition, the Company reported an operating loss of $129.7 million, an increase of $12.1 million, and adjusted operating income of $36.4 million, an increase of $46.6 million, both as compared to the prior year quarter.(1) Executive Chairman and CEO James L. Dolan said, “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which is the best example to-date of experiential storytelling in this new medium, has been met with strong consumer demand. Looking ahead, we believe our Company is well positioned for long-term growth as we continue to execute on our global vision for Sphere.” Segment Results for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2025 and 2024:
Sphere For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the Sphere segment generated revenues of $174.1 million, an increase of $47.0 million, or 37%, as compared to the prior year quarter. Revenues related to The Sphere Experience increased $28.3 million as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting higher average per-show revenue due to the impact of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which debuted on August 28, 2025. In the current year quarter, The Sphere Experience included 220 performances of Postcard from Earth, V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film and The Wizard of Oz at Sphere as compared to 207 performances of Postcard from Earth and V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film in the prior year quarter. Event-related revenues increased $15.0 million as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to 16 additional concert residency shows held at Sphere as compared to the prior year quarter. This increase was partially offset by lower average per-concert revenue due to the mix of concerts as compared to the prior year quarter, as well as the absence of one marquee sporting event and one corporate event held in the prior year quarter. Revenues from sponsorship, Exosphere advertising and suite license fees increased $2.7 million as compared to the prior year quarter due to an increase in Exosphere advertising revenues, sponsorship revenues and, to a lesser extent, suite license fee revenues. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the Sphere segment had direct operating expenses of $78.7 million, an increase of $16.3 million, or 26%, as compared to the prior year quarter. Expenses associated with The Sphere Experience increased $10.1 million as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher average per-show expenses for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, which debuted on August 28, 2025. Event-related expenses increased $3.9 million, primarily due to an increase in the number of concert residency shows, partially offset by lower average per-concert expenses and the absence of one marquee sporting event held in the prior year quarter. In addition, venue operating expenses increased $2.1 million as compared to the prior year quarter due to an increase in repairs and maintenance expenses and other net cost increases. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, selling, general and administrative expenses of $92.7 million decreased $12.3 million, or 12%, as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to lower employee compensation and related benefits of $12.4 million, partially offset by other cost increases. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, operating loss of $84.4 million improved by $40.6 million, or 32%, as compared to the prior year quarter, and adjusted operating income of $17.1 million increased $43.4 million from an adjusted operating loss of $26.3 million in the prior year quarter, both primarily due to the increase in revenues and lower selling, general and administrative expenses, partially offset by higher direct operating expenses. MSG Networks For the three months ended September 30, 2025, the MSG Networks segment generated total revenues of $88.4 million, a decrease of $12.4 million, or 12%, as compared to the prior year quarter. Distribution revenue decreased $12.7 million, primarily due to a decrease in total subscribers of approximately 13.5%. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, direct operating expenses of $58.3 million decreased $19.0 million, or 25%, as compared to the prior year quarter due to lower rights fees expense of $17.6 million and lower other programming and production content costs of $1.4 million. The decrease in rights fees expense primarily reflects reductions in media rights fees as a result of recent amendments to MSG Networks’ media rights agreements with certain professional sports teams. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, selling, general and administrative expenses of $7.0 million decreased $7.0 million, or 50%, as compared to the prior year quarter. The decrease was primarily due to (i) lower employee compensation and related benefits of $7.5 million, and (ii) lower professional fees of $4.0 million, mainly due to the absence of costs associated with pursuing a work-out of MSG Networks’ credit facilities with its syndicate of lenders recorded in the prior year quarter, partially offset by (iii) higher advertising and marketing costs of $4.2 million. For the three months ended September 30, 2025, operating income decreased by $52.7 million to an operating loss of $45.3 million as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to higher impairments and other losses and, to a lesser extent, the decrease in revenues, partially offset by lower direct operating expenses and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. Adjusted operating income increased by $3.2 million to $19.3 million as compared to the prior year quarter, primarily due to lower direct operating expenses, partially offset by the decrease in revenues and, to a lesser extent, higher selling, general and administrative expenses (excluding share-based compensation and merger, debt work-out and acquisition related costs, net of insurance recoveries). Other Matters During the three months ended September 30, 2025, the Company repurchased 1,054,247 shares of its Class A common stock at an average price of $47.43 per share for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $50 million in 2025 to-date. The share repurchases were funded using cash on hand. The Company will continue to evaluate additional opportunistic share repurchases going forward and has approximately $300 million remaining under its existing share repurchase authorization. About Sphere Entertainment Co. Sphere Entertainment Co. is a leader in immersive entertainment, technology and media. The Company includes Sphere, a next-generation entertainment medium powered by cutting-edge technologies to redefine the future of entertainment. The first Sphere opened in Las Vegas, with a second venue planned for Abu Dhabi. In addition, the Company includes MSG Networks, which operates two regional sports and entertainment networks, MSG Network and MSG Sportsnet, as well as a direct-to-consumer and authenticated streaming product, MSG+, delivering a wide range of live sports content and other programming. More information is available at www.sphereentertainmentco.com. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We define adjusted operating income (loss), which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as operating income (loss) before (i) depreciation, amortization and impairments of property and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets, (ii) amortization for capitalized cloud computing arrangement costs, (iii) share-based compensation expense, (iv) restructuring charges or credits, (v) merger, debt work-out and acquisition-related costs, including merger-related litigation expenses, net of insurance recoveries, (vi) gains or losses on sales or dispositions of businesses and associated settlements, (vii) the impact of purchase accounting adjustments related to business acquisitions, and (viii) gains and losses related to the remeasurement of liabilities under the Company’s Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. We believe that the exclusion of share-based compensation expense or benefit allows investors to better track the performance of our business without regard to the settlement of an obligation that is not expected to be made in cash. We eliminate merger, debt work-out and acquisition-related costs, including merger related litigation expenses, net of insurance recoveries, when applicable, because the Company does not consider such costs to be indicative of the ongoing operating performance of the Company as they result from an event that is of a non-recurring nature, thereby enhancing comparability. In addition, management believes that the exclusion of gains and losses related to the remeasurement of liabilities under the Company’s Executive Deferred Compensation Plan, provides investors with a clearer picture of the Company’s operating performance given that, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), gains and losses related to the remeasurement of liabilities under the Company’s Executive Deferred Compensation Plan are recognized in Operating income (loss) whereas gains and losses related to the remeasurement of the assets under the Company’s Executive Deferred Compensation Plan, which are equal to and therefore fully offset the gains and losses related to the remeasurement of liabilities, are recognized in Other income (expense), net, which is not reflected in Operating income (loss). We believe adjusted operating income (loss) is an appropriate measure for evaluating the operating performance of our business segments and the Company on a consolidated basis. Adjusted operating income (loss) and similar measures with similar titles are common performance measures used by investors and analysts to analyze our performance. Internally, we use revenues and adjusted operating income (loss) as the most important indicators of our business performance, and evaluate management’s effectiveness with specific reference to these indicators. Adjusted operating income (loss) should be viewed as a supplement to and not a substitute for operating income (loss), net income (loss), cash flows from operating activities, and other measures of performance and/or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. Since adjusted operating income (loss) is not a measure of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, this measure may not be comparable to similar measures with similar titles used by other companies. For a reconciliation of operating income (loss) to adjusted operating income (loss), please see page 6 of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results, developments or events may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including financial community perceptions of the Company and its business, operations, financial condition and the industries in which it operates and the factors described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained therein. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein. Conference Call Information:
The conference call will be Webcast live today at 10:00 a.m. ET at investor.sphereentertainmentco.com
SPHERE ENTERTAINMENT CO.
The following is a description of the adjustments to operating loss in arriving at adjusted operating income (loss) as described in this earnings release:
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251104761864/en/ Contacts
Ari Danes, CFA
Grace Kaminer
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