MSG Sports (MSGS) 2026财年第四季度业绩电话会：尼克斯队夺冠提振营收

核心要点

• MSG Sports 2026财年实现营收11.5亿美元，调整后营业利润（AOI）为5870万美元。
• 第四财季营收从2.040亿美元增至2.787亿美元。AOI 从上年同期的调整后营业亏损1680万美元扭亏为盈至3960万美元。
• 赛事及活动相关营收同比增长43%至2.007亿美元；包厢、赞助及标识营收增长23%至3910万美元。
• 纽约尼克斯队第四财季创造了1.820亿美元的季后赛相关营收，而上年同期为1.152亿美元，尽管这两个时期均承办了9场季后赛主场比赛。
• 在满足包括董事会批准在内的相关条件的前提下，MSG Sports 预计将于10月底前完成拟议的游骑兵队分拆事宜。
• 管理层预计 2027 财年各业务类别的营收均将实现增长，但同时球队薪酬、奢侈税和收入分享支出也将有所增加。

关键财务数据

2026财年全年，MSG Sports 报告营收为11.5亿美元，AOI 为5870万美元。截至季度末，现金约为1.645亿美元，债务总额为2.585亿美元，其中包括尼克斯队高级担保循环信贷额度下的2.420亿美元以及 NHL 预支的1650万美元。

业务与运营表现

尼克斯队冲刺 NBA 总冠军是第四财季的主要增长驱动力。季后赛门票随轮次推移产生更高溢价，球队多次创下 NBA 单场门票收入纪录。此外，在总决赛系列赛期间，人均餐饮和周边商品消费也加速增长。

夺冠后周边商品需求依然强劲。尼克斯队在锁定总冠军后的前24小时内创下了有史以来最高的单日商品销售额。在整个2026财年，场馆内人均周边商品和餐饮支出均实现同比增长。

尼克斯队和游骑兵队在本财年净新增社交媒体粉丝超过220万，截至6月底，两队粉丝总数已接近2200万。

管理层预计两队的合并季票续订率将保持在90%以上。在游骑兵队无缘季后赛后，MSG Sports 上调了尼克斯队的季票价格，但保持游骑兵队的价格不变。

季后赛期间的赞助收入同比翻了一番多。公司与普华永道（PwC）和 Polymarket 签署了新的多年期合作协议，并与雷克萨斯（Lexus）、百威英博（Anheuser-Busch）和 Infosys 续签了多年期协议。管理层表示，夺冠应能为2027财年的额外赞助销售提供支撑。

麦迪逊广场花园（The Garden）正进行额外的包厢改造，预计将在2027财年创造增量营收。尼克斯队将在新赛季开启时举办总冠军旗帜升旗仪式，而游骑兵队的百年庆祝活动将在11月对阵蒙特利尔加拿大人队（Montreal Canadiens）的比赛中达到高潮。

管理层展望

在门票、赞助、包厢、餐饮和周边商品等方面的良好势头支撑下，管理层预计2027财年所有业务类别的营收均将实现增长。公司未提供具体的营收或 AOI 指引。

预计2027财年的业绩还将反映出更高的球队薪酬、NBA 奢侈税和收入分享支出。2026-27赛季，NBA 工资帽增加了1040万美元，而 NHL 工资帽增加了850万美元。

新的 NHL 劳资协议预计将增加游骑兵队的收入分享支出。这还将使游骑兵队在2027财年增加一场常规赛主场比赛，并减少一场季前赛主场比赛。

NHL 与罗杰斯通讯（Rogers Communications）达成的全新12年加拿大媒体版权协议将于下赛季生效。管理层预计 MSG Sports 在这些媒体版权费中的分账份额将有所增加。

风险与关注领域

拟议的游骑兵队分拆仍受包括董事会批准在内的条件约束。MSG Sports 预计将公开提交更新后的 Form 10 注册声明，目前的目标是在10月底前完成分拆。

税法变更将于截至2028年6月30日的财年生效。在不考虑拟议分拆的情况下，管理层目前预计2028财年将增加约1600万美元的所得税费用。如果分拆完成，两家公司的合计税收费用将会更高，最终影响在很大程度上取决于届时的球队薪资规模。

2027财年的费用增长可能会抵消部分预期的营收增长。管理层特别指出球队薪酬、奢侈税和收入分享是成本较高的领域。

与 MSG Networks 达成的本地媒体版权协议将延续至2028-29赛季。第四财季的媒体版权营收与上年同期基本持平，原因在于地方电视转播经济效益下滑及 MSG Networks 独家转播场次减少被更高的全国 NBA 媒体版权费所抵消。

分析师问答精选

游骑兵队分拆与少数股权：管理层表示，将游骑兵队与尼克斯队分拆将使投资者能够更清晰地评估每项业务，同时提供更大的战略和财务灵活性。公司未排除未来出售少数股权的可能性，但目前尚无最新进展可报告。

夺冠经济效应：尼克斯队在第四财季创造了1.820亿美元的季后赛相关营收，而上年同期为1.152亿美元。这两个时期均包含9场季后赛主场比赛，这突显了挺进并夺得 NBA 总冠军带来的经济效益。

赞助前景：管理层表示，总冠军巩固了合作伙伴关系，并提升了未来协议的价值主张。公司预计将同时获得2026财年协议带来的持续收益以及2027财年新增的赞助机会。

地方媒体分发：MSG Sports 表示，MSG Networks 仍是触达当地球迷的重要合作伙伴，并对其分发举措（包括与 DAZN 的合作）表示支持。管理层未对未来可能的联盟层面分发模式发表猜测。

联盟扩军：管理层表示，如果 NBA 或 NHL 进行扩军，扩军费将在现有球队之间进行分配。随后的联盟分发收益（包括全国媒体版权收入）将在扩军后的所有球队之间进行分享。

财报电话会议完整实录

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完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Ari Danes, Investor Relations. Ari, please go ahead.

Ari Danes

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to MSG Sports Fiscal 2026 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Earnings Conference Call. Our Chief Operating Officer, Jamaal Lesane, will begin this morning's call with a discussion on the company's strategy and operations as well as an update on the company's proposed spin-off of its Rangers business. This will be followed by a review of our financial results with Paul DiCicco, our EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. 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 4 and 5 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 Jamaal.

Jamaal Lesane

Thank you, Ari, and good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be here with you all today following a fiscal year that culminated with the Knicks winning an NBA championship. Before I dive further into the Knicks season, I would like to take a moment to discuss an important plan that we announced since we last spoke in February, potential spin-off of our Rangers business from our Knicks business. This transaction would create 2 distinct publicly traded companies, enabling shareholders to more clearly evaluate each company's assets and growth prospects. It would also provide both with enhanced strategic and financial flexibility.

In May, we confidentially filed a Form 10 registration statement with the SEC regarding the proposed spin-off. We anticipate publicly filing an updated Form 10 registration statement this week and currently expect to complete the spin-off by the end of October, subject to various conditions, including Board approval. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress.

Now let's discuss our operations in more detail. For fiscal '26, MSG Sports generated full year revenues of approximately $1.2 billion and adjusted operating income of nearly $59 million. These results reflect robust consumer and corporate demand throughout the regular season and, of course, the impact of the Knicks Championship run. The Knicks' playoff run took over New York City from electric crowds in-arena for home games to watch parties at various locations throughout the city to unique activations from our marketing partners, all culminating with the championship parade attended by millions of fans. With this unprecedented momentum, we achieved a number of operational milestones during the postseason.

To share a few highlights, on the ticketing front, the Knicks set new league-wide records with the highest per game gate revenues in NBA history on multiple occasions during the playoffs. With respect to merchandise, within the first 24 hours of clinching the NBA title, the Knicks generated its highest ever single day of merchandise sales with this robust demand continuing in the weeks that have followed. And we added over 2.2 million net new social media followers this past year, bringing the Knicks and Rangers combined following to nearly 22 million by the end of June. And this interest wasn't just limited to New York. Nationwide, the championship series became the most-watched NBA finals in 28 years. While fan enthusiasm reached new highs during the playoffs, the demand for both the Knicks and Rangers was evident throughout the regular seasons, which we expect to carry forward in fiscal '27.

In terms of ticketing, we saw higher per game revenue year-over-year during the 2025-'26 regular seasons. Looking ahead to the upcoming season, we are off to a strong start with season ticket renewals, and we expect our combined season ticket renewal rate to once again reach levels above 90%. I would note that consistent with our past practice, we made the decision to not raise season ticket prices for the Rangers as the team did not qualify for the playoffs, but we did raise season ticket prices for the Knicks. This past fiscal year, we also celebrated the Rangers Centennial season, which will culminate with the Rangers' 100th anniversary Capstone Game at The Garden in November against the Montreal Canadians. That game will also mark the 100th anniversary of the date of the Rangers first-ever game also against the Montreal franchise.

In addition, we continued unique merchandise collaborations with brands such as Kith and New York or Nowhere for both the Knicks and Rangers. These initiatives helped drive robust year-over-year growth in merchandise per cap spending at the arena for fiscal '26 as compared to the prior year. We also saw fan enthusiasm throughout the fiscal year translate into higher food and beverage per cap spending year-over-year at the arena. In terms of marketing partnerships, fiscal '26 was highlighted by a number of significant new sales and renewals. We signed new multiyear partnerships with PwC and Polymarket and reached multiyear renewals with Lexus, Anheuser-Busch and Infosys. And in our premium hospitality business, we also saw strong new sales and renewal activity for suites at The Garden, which included a number of Lexus level suites that were renovated at the start of the fiscal year.

Building on this successful initiative, several more suites are in the process of being renovated, which we expect to drive incremental revenue for our business in fiscal '27. As we look ahead to the upcoming seasons, the Rangers have had a productive summer, including acquiring forward Pavel Dorofeyev and defensemen Marcus Petterson and Sean Durzi. We look forward to the Rangers 2026-'27 regular season campaign getting underway this fall. And the Knicks will begin with the special banner raising celebration in October to tip off the season as defending champions.

So in summary, we are proud to have seen the Knicks deliver this year's championship for our fans, partners, employees and shareholders. And as we pursue a spin-off of our Rangers business, we remain confident in our ability to drive long-term shareholder value. I'd now like to introduce Paul DiCicco, our new EVP, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Paul is a seasoned executive with 30 years of experience in a range of global finance roles. His proven track record of strategic financial leadership is an asset to our company, and we are pleased to have him on board.

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Paul.

Paul DiCicco

Thank you, Jamaal, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to join you here today in my new role at MSG Sports during such an exciting time for the company.

For fiscal '26, we generated total revenues of $1.15 billion and adjusted operating income of $58.7 million. Results for the fiscal fourth quarter reflect the same number of regular season and playoff home games as compared to the prior year period. That includes the completion of the '25/'26 regular season, followed by the Knicks playoff run to the finals, which compared to reaching the Eastern conference finals in fiscal '25. For the fiscal '26 fourth quarter, total revenues were $278.7 million as compared to $204 million in the prior year period. Event-related revenues of $200.7 million, which mainly consists of ticket, food, beverage and merchandise revenues, inclusive of playoffs, increased 43% year-over-year. Suites, sponsorship and signage revenues, also inclusive of the playoffs, were $39.1 million, an increase of 23% year-over-year. National and local media rights fees of $27.7 million were essentially unchanged year-over-year. This primarily reflected our amended local telecast rights agreement with MSG Networks as well as a decrease in the number of games exclusively available to MSG Networks during the current year as compared to the prior year.

These decreases were offset by higher national media rights fees due to the NBA's new national media rights deals. Adjusted operating income was $39.6 million as compared to adjusted operating loss of $16.8 million in the prior year quarter, which reflected the increases in revenues, partially offset by higher SG&A and direct operating expenses. The increase in costs primarily reflects higher playoff-related expenses. I would note that SG&A also reflects, to a lesser extent, $2.9 million in expenses related to the proposed spin-off transaction. This overall increase in cost was partially offset by a decrease in net provisions for certain team personnel transactions recognized in the prior year quarter.

As we look ahead, we believe our business is poised to deliver revenue growth across all [ intermediate ] categories in fiscal '27. In addition, we expect our results to also reflect our continued investment in our teams as well as higher revenue sharing expense. I'd also add the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement takes effect in the 2026, '27 season. As a result, we will have one more regular season home game and one fewer preseason home game for the Rangers in fiscal '27.

Turning to our balance sheet. At the end of the quarter, our cash balance was approximately $164.5 million, and our debt balance was $258.5 million. This was comprised of $242 million under the Knicks senior secured revolving credit facility and $16.5 million advanced from the NHL. So in summary, we remain pleased with the demand we are seeing for our teams as we also pursue the potential separation of our businesses, which we are confident will position us well to drive long-term value for our shareholders.

I will now turn the call back over to Ari.

Ari Danes

Operator, can we now open up the call for questions?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of David Karnovsky with JPMorgan.

分析师问答

David Karnovsky

I would be the first to say congrats on the Knicks championship. So regarding the New York Rangers spin-off, can you speak a bit more to the rationale here? And should investors read this as a willingness to sell minority stakes in the teams? And then relatedly, with the pending tax law change, why enter the spin if it now creates a tax challenge across 2 public companies?

Jamaal Lesane

David, thank you for those congratulations. With respect to your first question, we believe that our proposed spin-off, as I mentioned earlier, would enable shareholders to more clearly evaluate each company's assets and growth prospects. As it relates to a minority stake sale or the potential for minority stake in either team, our position hasn't changed from what we've articulated on previous calls. We continue to be confident in the value of our teams. We're as confident as ever in that respect. And there continue to be reported transactions in the marketplace that demonstrate that value and scarcity of these assets. And so as I said before, we would never rule out the possibility of a minority stake sale, but we don't have anything further to report at this time in that regard. The takeaway here, David, is that this transaction will provide both companies with enhanced strategic and financial flexibility.

Paul DiCicco

I'll take the second part of your question. As we discussed earlier just now, we believe the proposed spin will create long-term value for our shareholders. And we're certainly mindful of the implications that the tax laws would have at each company after the separation. But that being said, as Jamaal just said, the proposed spin-off does create -- provides both companies with strategic and financial flexibility, such as enhancing each company's ability to access funding for liquidity, particularly as we take into account the implications for our business from these tax law changes.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Cameron Mansson-Perrone with Morgan Stanley.

Cameron Mansson-Perrone

Two, if I could. First, on local media rights, there's a range of evolving approaches across leagues and teams right now between traditional RSN distribution, full DTC as we're seeing with the Braves, leagues trying to centrally manage and package rights. Jamaal, what's your latest thinking about those various options and what makes sense from your perspective for the MSGS teams over time? And are there any league-specific factors we should consider that might make the approach different for the Knicks relative to the Rangers? Or are you thinking about both teams and local rights in a similar -- or from a similar lens? And then I have a follow-up.

Jamaal Lesane

Sure. Thanks for that, Cameron, and great to meet you. As you mentioned, there's a lot going on. But with respect to the Knicks and the Rangers local distribution, we have a great partner in MSG Networks. And our agreements with them run through the '28, '29 seasons. And one of the things that makes them a great partner is that they help us stay connected with our local fans, which is of paramount importance to us.

We're also supportive of what they've been doing on the distribution front, including their new partnership with DAZN, which is a premier streaming platform. And with that, we're not going to speculate on league plans. We believe in the value of local media coverage. We believe in the value of content that's tailored for local markets. And as such, we remain confident in our position as a rights holder for these 2 marquee sports franchises.

Cameron Mansson-Perrone

Great. I appreciate that. Follow-up was just on the question about the future potential tax obligations. Any help quantifying that incremental tax impact for each team when those changes take effect, I guess, assuming current payrolls remain unchanged at each team?

Paul DiCicco

Sure, Cameron. I'll take that one. It's nice to meet you as well. We continue to assess the impact of these tax law changes on our business. But just a quick reminder, these become effective for our fiscal year-end June 30, 2028. So with that in mind, excluding the impact of the proposed spin-off, we currently estimate these changes result in approximately $16 million in additional income tax expense for that fiscal year, that's fiscal year '28. If the proposed spin-off is completed, the combined income tax expense across the 2 companies will certainly be higher. I do think it's important to note, though, as you kind of alluded to, the final impact will largely depend on the team at that point in time.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of David Joyce with Seaport Research Partners.

David Joyce

Well, that was an exciting quarter. Can you help us understand some more of the financial impacts on the revenues, expenses and AOI from that championship run? And subsequent to the win, there was talk about not encroaching the next apron. So could you please also give us some operating expense outlook for the next fiscal year, including on the player comp?

Paul DiCicco

Sure, David. I'll take those questions and work through those for you. The championship run resulted in a significant incremental business for our company as evidenced in our results today.

To give a little bit more context, I'll touch on a few areas, and I'll start with tickets. Playoff tickets are priced at a premium to the regular season games with increases each round. As Jamaal noted earlier, the Knicks set new NBA records for the per game gate revenues. Our per cap spending on F&B and merchandise during the playoffs is typically higher than regular season averages, but we noted it was a notable acceleration during the championship series. Now what was interesting is we hosted 9 playoff games in this past quarter at The Garden, which is the same number of games as the prior year when the Knicks advanced to the Eastern conference files. And just to compare those results, related playoff revenues for the year's fourth quarter were $182 million as compared to $115.2 million in the prior year period. That's roughly $20.2 million in average per game revenues, including the benefits of robust nongame day merchandise sales.

On the flip side, right, there are additional costs in connection with being in the playoffs. We saw approximately $11 million, $1.2 million on average per game related to direct operating expense as well as marketing and administrative costs. One quick point I want to make. I won't get into all the specifics, but I note that last quarter, there were increased expenses for playoffs associated with making the finals and winning the championship. Just to close out on the thread of where we think about that goes, we expect the increased enthusiasm from our fans and partners to create tailwinds across every aspect of our business for fiscal '27, like tickets, sponsorship, suites, as well as food and beverage and merchandise sales.

The focus on the second part of your question really around operating expenses, I'm not going to provide specific guidance. But I will -- we do expect our results for '27 to reflect higher team compensation and luxury tax. As you know, the NBA salary cap increased $10.4 million for the '26, '27 season, while the NHL cap increased $8.5 million. And in addition to that, the NBA luxury tax threshold for '26, '27 season increased $12.5 million to approximately $200 million to $244 million. It's important reminder that this is measured based on the roster at the end of the season. The other area I mentioned earlier, we also anticipate increased revenue share expense in fiscal '27, really twofold really. One is this reflects our current expectations for ongoing revenue growth, excluding the impact of playoffs. In addition will be due to the impact of the new NHL CBA that goes into effect for the upcoming season. That new CBA slightly changed the calculation for rev share and is expected to result in higher revenue sharing expense for the Rangers.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Joe Stauff with Susquehanna.

Joseph Stauff

I just wanted to maybe follow up on David's previous question, a little bit more detail. Can I ask on the sponsorship outlook this coming season, what it looks like, especially considering the Knicks win and what that does for you in terms of both pricing and any added inventory and how we think about that number in particular for fiscal '27?

Jamaal Lesane

Thanks, Joe. Actually, I'm glad you touched on that. And just looking at back just a little bit, we saw overwhelming demand from our partners during the championship run. And that included not just the obvious presence in our arenas for those exhilarating home games, but it also included the opportunity for them to activate at our viewing parties around the city. And then even on the road, where we hosted a number of partners in Cleveland for the Eastern Conference Finals and in San Antonio for the NBA Finals, all culminating with giving many of our partners a presence during the championship parade celebration.

And so all of that had 2 effects. One, that valuable time spent enhances our relationship with our partners, and it improves the value proposition moving forward. And then two, we saw sponsorship revenues more than double year-over-year during the post season. And so looking ahead, not only do we expect to see the run rate benefit from our fiscal year -- fiscal '26 deals in the year ahead, but the Knicks win should actually enable us to sell more sponsorships. So in short, Joe, while we're not providing specific guidance, as we look to fiscal '27, we're seeing great momentum and believe that we are well positioned to drive another year of growth.

Ari Danes

Thanks for the question, Joe. Operator, we'll take one final caller.

Operator

Your last question comes from the line of Tyler DiMatteo with BTIG.

Tyler DiMatteo

I have 2 here. I wanted to start on the NHL side of things. I guess how should we think about the new Rogers deal kicking in this season and the potential financial impact on that? And then along with that, I guess, do you have any early thoughts on the potential new U.S. NHL deal and the renewal of it following the existing deal that concludes next year?

Jamaal Lesane

Thanks, Tyler. I'll take that one. Tyler, to answer the first part of your question, the NHL begins a new 12-year media rights agreement with Rogers Communications this upcoming season. And they, the NHL, will see a step-up in average annual value for its Canadian media rights with annual escalators thereafter. And so we'll see an increase in our share of those media rights -- those media rights fees. And kind of to piggyback into the second part of your question, in terms of the NHL U.S. deals, the current agreements run through the '27, '28 season. And we continue to believe in the value of live professional sports content. We expect the NHL will maximize that opportunity.

Tyler DiMatteo

Okay. Great. And then secondarily, I guess, do you have any early thoughts or how do you think about the potential financial impact of domestic expansion for the NBA or NHL? And I guess what that could mean for your business and the contribution?

Jamaal Lesane

Yes. I won't comment on the NBA, NHL strategy and whether that occurs or not. But I will -- if an expansion does occur, as it has in the past, if expansion were to occur, any potential expansion fees in the NBA would be divided equally among the 30 existing NBA teams and vice versa, any potential expansion fees in the NHL would be divided among the existing 32 NHL teams. From a league distribution perspective, including revenue from the national media rights agreements, those would be divided pro rata amongst the increased number of teams following any potential expansion.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Ari for closing remarks.

Ari Danes

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

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.