ISC Sees Q1 Revenue Rise, But Admissions Income Dips

ISC revealed a so-so start to '19 with its Q1 earnings, showing some signs of strength but also slight erosion in the key admissions revenue category. Events for the quarter were mainly comprised of races at Daytona Int’l Speedway, including the IMSA Rolex 24 Hours and NASCAR’s Speedweeks highlighted by the Daytona 500.

ISC saw total revenue rise as usual on the back of NASCAR’s media-rights deal, with $150.6M in Q1, up 1% from $148.9M last year. But admissions revenue was off 4%, from $30.6M last year to $29.3M this year. ISC Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer Greg Motto attributed the admissions downtick to drops at other Speedweeks events and lower prices for certain Daytona 500 tickets.

Expenses for Q1 were up 7% from $116.4M to $125M, and ISC also revealed that it spent $2.8M in Q1 on matters related to NASCAR’s proposed acquisition of the track operator. ISC’s profit for the quarter was $21.6M; ISC made $169.3M in Q1 last year, an 87% disparity that is largely explained by ISC realizing benefits from the '17 U.S. tax cuts. Adam Stern/SBD