Ticket sales for bookings for the spectacular Universe Theme Park and associated hotels “a little further than we expect,” Comcast Corp. President Mike Cabana said in a quarterly revenue call this week. The resort said it was well positioned despite reports of international travel concerns.
Comcast is the parent company of Universal Orlando and adds something spectacular to its lineup. The theme park’s grand opening is set for May 22nd.
“Since we launched epic ticket sales in the fourth quarter of 2024, there has been strong demand and the latest response to the early previews has not been astounding,” Cavanagh said.
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Comcast theme park revenues fell 5.2% in the first quarter a year ago, with operating expenses rising 7.5%. The ramp up to Epic’s opening had an incremental cost of around $100 million, as expected, said Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong.
“Before these pre-opening costs, the fundamental quarter results showed a steady trend in Orlando, giving us confidence that we could enter an epic launch from our strength position,” Armstrong said.
Cavanagh said the decline in international travel and flight bookings has not been reflected in the data from the park-themed travel planning company.
“What we see continues to be tracked well,” he said.
“Our domestic parks attract a lot of people from the US in Florida and a lot of people from the Southern markets. “So there may be a delayed effect between what the airlines are starting to report and what we see. But like I said, there is no real indication of our business when we’re sitting here right now.”
He said Universal Studios’ Hollywood theme parks and the tourism industry in Southern California are bounced back from wildfires in the area.
“I think the whole market continues to see LA’s leadership roughly or a little further apart than we think our leadership would like it as the owners of the parks in that market,” Kabana said. He said the company’s parks in Japan and China remain stable.
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The majority of revenue calls addressed other aspects of Comcast’s business, including studios, broadband and peacock streaming services. Other companies have been mentioned in the content and experience sector, including the kids’ park under construction in Texas, Universal Horror Universal, the year-round horror experience to open in Las Vegas in August, and the decision to build a theme park in the UK.
Total revenue for the first quarter was $29.9 billion, down 0.6%. Content and Experience revenues increased by 0.8% to $10.5 billion.
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Original issue: April 25th, 2025 11:42am EDT
