Comcast who owns NBCUniversal revealed their Q3 earnings report. Specifically, the theme parks division saw great losses as expected due to the pandemic.
But Universal is resilient, and we can already see the plans they are laying out to keep their doors open. So let’s take a look at all the details of the earnings report, and what Universal has in store for the future of their theme parks.
Reporter Ashley Carter breaks down the Q3 earnings report into a manageable bite for those of us interested in just the theme parks division:
Comcast's Q3 earnings report is out, a few takeaways:
– Revenue for NBCUniversal's theme parks division down 80.9%
– Parks division brought in $311M, down from $1.6B same period last year
– Decline due to Universal Orlando and USJ operating at limited capacity…USH still closed pic.twitter.com/MeNxM9pIza— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) October 29, 2020
It is no surprise to see big numbers of loss for the theme parks. This is due to the pandemic closing Universal’s theme parks around the world for an unprecedented amount of time, with Universal Hollywood remaining closed due to the California’s mandate.
Also, when parks have reopened, they are operating on modified capacity limits and hours. Universal Studios Singapore is open, but only Thursday through Friday.
But with all of this lost revenue from last year, what is Universal doing about it? Actually, their plan for their theme parks appears very clear. They believe in their theme parks division and are moving full steam ahead to get things back on track.
NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said this about the theme parks:
Shell called theme parks — where revenue plunged more than 80% last quarter — a great business and is confident attendance will pick up as “the world reopens and people get sick of staying in their houses.” Universal Orlando and Osaka are rebounding fairly well even at reduced capacity,” he said. “If this continues we will hit pretty much break even if not more sometime in 2021” — eve despite a current lack of clarity over the timing of Universal Studios Hollywood reopening.
Full Steam Ahead
Universal Orlando has continued to open with safety measures put in place to protect its Team Members and Guests. Within those safety measures, Universal has found ways to continue to entice Guests to visit the park.
While Universal Orlando Resort had to cancel its world-renowned Halloween Horror Nights event, they did find a way to safely open two haunted houses for daily operations during the Halloween season.
Also, Universal Orlando has decided to move forward with all of its special Holiday offerings. You can read all about Universal Orlando’s Christmas offerings here.
On top of the Halloween and Holiday offerings, at the Islands of Adventure theme park, Universal is gearing up to open a brand new thrilling roller coaster themed to the Jurassic World franchise. Named the VelociCoaster — this latest addition to the parks should be a big draw for thrill-seekers.
Universal Hollywood
Things are tricky when it comes to Universal’s Hollywood theme park. After a long back and forth California local government gave reopening guidelines for theme parks. However, Universal Studios Hollywood president said that they made “no sense”, and had this to say:
“Obviously our primary concern above and beyond everything else is how to bring our team members back to work. We have so many employees that are not getting paid right now, and so that’s certainly top of mind in everything we do.,” Irwin said. “We have explored doing a reopening with some of the businesses on our site — whether that’s food and beverage or retail — unfortunately that’s only going to allow us to bring a fraction of our team back.”
We will continue to have to wait and see what Universal Hollywood will do in this difficult time. However, they do have something very exciting coming to their theme park.
Super Nintendo World is currently being constructed at Universal Studios Hollywood and that is sure to be a large draw for fans of the Mario franchise to the park when the expansion is finished and the park reopens.
Universal may have experienced the same difficult hardships from the coronavirus as many others have, but it is clear by their non-stop improvement plans and innovations that they will not let their Q3 earnings be a defining factor in the operational future of their theme parks.
What are you most excited to see come to a Universal park? The VelociCoaster? Super Nintendo World? Let us know in the comments!
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