Wizard Lost a Lot of Money on Shows Last Year

ICv2 has the details. Wizard World lost $4.25 million in 2015, so they’re going to cut back on the number of shows they stage this year.

They were profitable to the tune of just under a million dollars in 2014. That year, they made $1.36 million per show, on average, for a total of $23.1 million made on 17 shows. 2015, the numbers were less favorable. They made less money, $22.9 million, on more shows, 25, so the show average dropped to $916,000. In other words, expansion costs money, and new shows aren’t profitable out of the gate.

Another big reason for the loss is the CONtv digital network, which lost over a million dollars. (That link also has some information on which shows aren’t profitable.) However, there is a new business that is working for them. They run a subscription box service that’s in the black.

Wizard’s plans for 2016 put them back down to 17 cities and a cruise. They’ve also changed their CEO.