E3 revenues tripled in 2009

April 13, 2011 11:32AM PDT

ESA tax form reveals return to super-sized LACC show brought in nearly $12 million for trade group; income from member dues dropped nearly 20 percent.

From 2006 to 2009, the Entertainment Software Association overhauled its annual Electronic Entertainment Expo multiple times before settling on its current format. While publisher and public reaction to the changes has been clear for years, the trade group is only now providing a more detailed picture of how the moves impacted its own bottom line.

E3 2009 saw the gaming trade show return to form.

In 2007, when the ESA radically downsized E3 and moved it from the Los Angeles Convention Center to nearby Santa Monica, the group offset the drastically reduced trade show revenues by inflating membership dues. In 2008, the ESA returned the show to the LACC, but kept it relatively small scale, so much so that E3 revenues actually decreased for the year, from $3.49 million to $3.24 million. However, membership fees did not offset that shortfall, as ESA dues brought in $15.22 million, down from a high of $17.41 million the year prior.

According to the ESA's latest Form 990 filing with the IRS (made earlier this year), the return to a large-scale LACC show in 2009 spiked revenues dramatically. For the year ended March 31, 2010, E3 revenues more than tripled to $11.76 million. Meanwhile, income from member dues continued to decrease, with the ESA reporting $12.26 million in revenue from member companies, down roughly 20 percent year-over-year.

The ESA reported a total of $31.19 million in revenue for the year, up 21 percent from the previous year's $25.78 million. Beyond E3 and member dues, the bulk of the organization's remaining income came from Entertainment Software Rating Board rating fees ($5.77 million).

By Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor

Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Follow Follow @BrendanSinclair

19 comments

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Infinity_Gauntl

They should open to the public for the day. I bet they would have huge profits!!

gameking5000

I don't want them to end up with too much money for their own good.

blackace

Well, that's good. They should have never downsized it to begin with. I know they were trying to get rid of all the outside chaos that don't provide the busy opportunities the developers, publishers and retailers seek, but those outside companies and fans (fansites, online gaming, game mags, other journalist, celebrities, booth babes, etc.), were what made the E3 so much fun and so large. I'm not going to the E3 this year. With a family to take care of, my days of frolicing at the E3 and SDCC are pretty much over. I'm glad the E3 business is up. It means it will continue on for the future. *************************************************************** @soulless4now I wish E3 would go back to being in May. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah.. . I hate that it's only a month away from the SDCC. It was better when it was at the end of May.

franzito

Talk about profit!

Phil-teh-Pirate

Between E3 and TGS. Gaming has its Glastonbury and Woodstock. It's pretty cool being a gamer in 2011, makes a change from 1996 when the only way I could find out about new games was magazines, word of mouth or box art illustration.

marvel456

Can't wait for this year's E3!

HaloPimp978

E3 should be open to the public, just like how PAX is, but expect E3 all the game companies show up and the other gaming news outlets around the world.

soulless4now

I wish E3 would go back to being in May.

decoy1978

I've been attending E3's since 2004 and on 2007-2008 I really thought that E3 was done in LACC. I hope whatever it is they're doing they keep it up. I also hope that one day E3 will be available to the public!

ziproy

Its not very hard to triple the income after the year before was in an airport hanger

jadefury27

i disagree. keep this off limits to the public. have more rolling conventions leading up to e3 all over the country. pax east was every bit as good as e3 to me. not every one can roll to l.a. and not everyone can go. have a travelling version that can ,make stops leading up to e3.

Superzone

@Gta3-fan334: Agreed. E3 should be open to the public.

zoopilandia

Can't wait for this year's E3. If it's anything like last year's it's going to be awesome.

Basinboy

Excellent, glad to see they've turned the event around since its slump in 2006-2007 when each of the big three seemed to be backing out

Gta3-fan334

They should open the show to the public. Like have 3 or 5 days for the press and industry members and then a week or two for the general public and charge 20 to 30 dollars per person.

Barighm

I understand what they were trying to do with the smaller shows, giving independents a chance and all, but it's a lot easier than ever to get your hands on an indie or small budget game than ever before, so it's probably better to return to the big show. They could always try grouping all of the small games into a single big presentation at E3. "Now let's take a look at the great indie games coming out next year!" and then lead into a slideshow or something.

Ex-DarkBlade

The revenues are going to continue to grow because game development has been increasing in recent years.

Ex-DarkBlade

@KaBo0m, not really the last.

KaBo0m

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