The corporate parent of Universal's theme parks this morning reported lower attendance for its U.S. theme parks as revenue declined in the third quarter of the year.
Comcast reported $2.289 billion in revenue for NBCUniversal's Theme Parks segment for the three months ending September 30. That was down 5.3% from the same period in 2023.
The company attributed the revenue dip to a decline in attendance at its domestic theme parks. However, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts did note the announcement of the opening date for Universal Orlando's Epic Universe next year, which he called "the most ambitious and technologically sophisticated theme park ever created."
Epic Universe opens May 22, 2025, which will fall in the second quarter of Comcast's 2025 fiscal year.
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So attendance down even as Universal throws massive discounts and free ticket giveaways?!
@NYPark - I think the discounts are a result of the projected attendance/revenue declines, not the other way around as Universal is trying to stem the tide until May 2025. I wouldn't be surprised that as a whole, that attendance and revenue at theme parks this year will be pretty flat, so the declines that Universal Orlando is seeing won't seem so out of the norm.
However, as TH has noted more than once here, could Universal have done more to maintain their footing in their legacy parks by installing new attractions to keep guests wanting to visit during the leadup to Epic Universe. My argument has always been that I believe Universal had planned to do that as part of their long-range planning, but the increase in costs to build Epic Universe (mostly due to Pandemic delays and increases in construction/labor costs) cannibalized the budgets Universal had planned to use to enhance USF and IOA in 2024 and 2025. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I do agree with TH that Universal has made a mistake by not adding significant attractions to their legacy parks and instead leveraging Epic Universe to coerce guests to visit IOA and USF in 2025.
I went for a week mid September so I did my part to help them meet their goals.
...Guess I wasn't the "turning point" for which their entire business model depended on!
Leave it to Sarah to lighten the mood!
Thanks, buddy!
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Orlando's Disney vs. Comcast battle is a contrast of two approches to themed entertainment strategy. Disney's involves extensively expanding existing parks (new lands and attractions). Comcast is committed to adding a new park with multiple attractions and essentially ignoring major expansions (or even significant attraction replacements) in their existing models.
Small wonder that Comcast "reported lower attendance for its U.S. theme parks as revenue declined in the third quarter of the year".
This may be why Comcast is desperate to get Epic Universe opened in May 2025 -- ready or not. That way it can show an uptick in Q3 2025 -- assuming the cannibalization of IOA and USF attendance does not undermine the success of that strategy.