The results validate the profitability of high‑cost immersive venues and signal strong demand for premium content, positioning Sphere for aggressive global expansion and attracting capital.
Sphere Entertainment’s FY 2025 financials illustrate how an immersive‑venue business can transition from heavy capital outlays to sustainable profitability. While the headline operating loss remains sizable, the adjusted operating profit—excluding depreciation, amortization, and share‑based compensation—showed a 138% jump, underscoring the importance of separating cash‑generating performance from accounting charges. Investors are increasingly focusing on adjusted metrics for capital‑intensive entertainment assets, and Sphere’s ability to improve operating income in Q4 highlights operational efficiencies and stronger demand for its high‑ticket‑price experiences.
Content is the engine driving Sphere’s revenue growth. The Wizard of Oz production, with an average ticket price of $132, has already delivered $290 million in box‑office receipts, proving that premium, narrative‑driven shows can command significant spend in a market accustomed to traditional concerts. By leveraging proprietary visual technology and expanding its IP pipeline—including upcoming 4D enhancements and new collaborations—Sphere is creating a differentiated catalog that can be replicated across future venues, increasing per‑seat revenue and fostering longer guest dwell times.
Looking ahead, Sphere’s expansion strategy targets both scaled‑down and flagship locations, reducing entry barriers while preserving the brand’s immersive DNA. The planned 6,000‑seat mini‑Sphere at National Harbor, backed by $200 million in public‑private incentives, serves as a testbed for market adoption outside Las Vegas. Simultaneously, the Abu Dhabi flagship aims to capture high‑spending tourism flows in the Middle East. This dual‑track rollout, combined with a pipeline of new IP and partnerships, positions Sphere to capture a growing share of the global experiential‑entertainment market, attracting further equity interest and potentially reshaping venue economics worldwide.
Sphere Entertainment Reports Q4 and FY 2025 Financial Results
Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the Sphere concert venue in Las Vegas, has published its Q4 and FY 2025 financial results.
The firm posted revenues of USD $1.22 billion for 2025, up 8 % year‑over‑year.
Sphere Entertainment reported an annual operating loss of $229.6 million for the 12‑month period ending December 31, 2025, an improvement on the $372.3 million loss in the prior‑year period.
The company reported adjusted operating profit of $261.8 million for FY 2025, which was up 138 % YoY.
The big difference between those two figures (operating loss and adjusted operating profit) lies in what the adjusted number strips out. Sphere’s adjusted operating income excludes depreciation and amortization — significant line items for a company that has sunk enormous capital into building and operating a venue of this scale — as well as share‑based compensation and a handful of other non‑cash or one‑off items.
For Q4 (the three months ended December 31), Sphere reported revenues of $394.3 million, up 28 % YoY.
The company’s operating income for the Q4 period was $28.9 million — an upswing from a $142.9 million loss in the prior‑year period.
Sphere’s concert residencies through 2025 included the Eagles, Dead & Company, the Backstreet Boys, Anyma, Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band.
On an earnings call with investors last Thursday (February 12), Sphere’s Exec Chairman and CEO James Dolan confirmed that more than 2.2 million tickets had been sold for immersive experience The Wizard of Oz at Sphere since its opening last August.
Those 2.2 million tickets had generated approximately $290 million at the box office, said Dolan – a gross of around $132 per ticket.
An enhanced version of the production, The Wizard of Oz 2.0, is slated for release by Sphere later this year, complete with new scenes and 4D effects.
Dolan added that the company’s latest financial results served as “continued validation of the business model behind Sphere”.
“As we begin 2026, we remain focused on expanding Sphere’s global footprint, including advancing our plans to bring Sphere to Abu Dhabi and National Harbor, and believe the company is well‑positioned for long‑term growth,” he said.
Last month, Sphere Entertainment shared plans for its first small‑scale Sphere in the United States.
In collaboration with the State of Maryland, Prince George’s County, and Peterson Companies, the firm intends to develop a ‘mini Sphere’ at National Harbor in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
The National Harbor project will utilize a combination of public and private funding, including approximately $200 million in state, local, and private incentives, with a targeted opening date “in four years or less”.
The model, which is set to feature an Exosphere – the exterior LED display – will have a capacity of 6,000 seats compared to the 17,600‑seat Las Vegas venue, which launched with U2 in September 2023.
A full‑scale Sphere replica is also in the works for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism.
“Our success in Las Vegas, including most recently, The Wizard of Oz, is an important blueprint for our long‑term vision.”
— James Dolan, Sphere Entertainment
Speaking during Sphere Entertainment’s Q4 2025 earnings call on February 12, Dolan said the Abu Dhabi scheme had reached “the final stages of pre‑construction”, adding that he expected to share additional updates in the near future, including details on the site location.
“Our success in Las Vegas, including most recently, The Wizard of Oz, is an important blueprint for our long‑term vision, a global network of Sphere venues powered by our proprietary technology and immersive content,” said Dolan. “And we’re now one step closer to realizing that vision.
“We are also in active discussions with a significant number of domestic and international markets regarding large and smaller‑scale Spheres.”
Dolan noted that another Sphere Experience project, From The Edge, is on track to be completed later this year, with the firm also in “positive discussions” with IP holders regarding other new immersive content.
“There are some great products out there that we would like to develop while we develop some of our own IP, and so that’s moving along,” he said. “Every IP holder that we talk to is incredibly enthusiastic about taking their IP and putting it into this new medium. They all would like to do it.”
Regarding the future residency pipeline, Dolan said there were “hardly any” slots left in 2026.
“We’re basically sticking to long weekends, right, taking advantage of how the Las Vegas market kind of runs, and there’s no shortage of artists who want to play,” he said.
“We’re running The Wizard of Oz right now in tandem with those events. So we’re looking for customers who want to come to see us twice on the weekends… and so far, that’s going pretty well.”
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