Financial research concept

Entertainment Venue Operating Payroll Rate

measures venue operating payroll and benefit expense as a percentage of total revenue.

By Lee BaileyPublished Sep 26, 2026

Research context

See what supports this page, how current it is, and where comparable or historical context is available.

Research date: Sep 26, 2026Use the dated article and cited sources for the definition, examples, and stated limitations.
Operating-model context: 17 connected conceptsPart of the reviewed Entertainment Venue Store Economics; issuer definitions remain distinct where disclosed.
Company examples: 1 reviewed companyRelationships reflect supported examples, not a normalized cross-company KPI ranking.

Payroll deleveraged even though the company found labor efficiencies
New stores can raise payroll before they mature
The denominator differs from product-cost rates
Part of the Entertainment Venue Store Economics
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Entertainment venue operating payroll rate measures store-level payroll and benefits as a percentage of total company revenue.

Dave & Buster's reported $535.8 million of operating payroll and benefits in fiscal 2025, equal to 25.5% of total revenue, up from 24.5% in fiscal 2024.

Payroll deleveraged even though the company found labor efficiencies

Management said the dollar increase was driven primarily by $20.3 million of incremental wages associated with noncomparable stores, partly offset by labor efficiencies.

The rate still rose because lower sales reduced the revenue base available to absorb labor costs.

That is classic operating deleverage: efficiency improvements can exist at the same time as a worse expense rate when revenue falls.

New stores can raise payroll before they mature

A growing noncomparable estate adds staff and management costs before those stores have necessarily reached mature revenue levels.

This makes the payroll rate useful alongside noncomparable-store operating weeks and comparable-store sales.

The denominator differs from product-cost rates

Payroll is expressed as a percentage of total revenue. Entertainment and food-and-beverage product cost rates use their own segment revenue denominators.

Do not add those percentages together mechanically without first putting them on a common base.

Primary source: Dave & Buster's fiscal 2025 Form 10-K.

Part of the Entertainment Venue Store Economics

Connects entertainment and dining revenue mix with product-cost rates, comparable-store performance, new-store development and maturation, operating-cost leverage, pre-opening expense, and capital reinvestment for large-format entertainment venues.

Browse the full operating model in Company Analysis →

Where this concept fits

Revenue mix, direct product costs, and store-level operating leverageCurrent relationship
Entertainment and food-and-beverage revenue mix show what customers spend on inside the venue. Their direct product cost rates preserve different denominators, while payroll and other store operating expense rates show additional store-level cost intensity against total revenue.
Entertainment Cost Rate Entertainment Revenue Entertainment Revenue Mix Food & Beverage Cost Rate Food & Beverage Revenue Food & Beverage Revenue MixOperating Payroll RateCurrent conceptOther Store Operating Expense Rate
Seasoned-store performance, noncomparable exposure, and new-store maturation
Comparable-store sales growth measures the seasoned base, while comparable and noncomparable operating weeks expose the time contribution behind each population. The comparable-store base count and honeymoon effect help distinguish mature-store performance from early new-store sales patterns.
Comparable Store Base Count Comparable Store Operating Weeks Comparable Store Sales Growth New Store Honeymoon Effect Noncomparable Store Operating Weeks
Footprint expansion, launch expense, and capital reinvestment
Ending company-owned store count and new-store openings show the physical venue base and expansion flow. Pre-opening costs capture launch expense before operations begin, while capital expenditures show cash invested in new stores, remodels, games, technology, and other property and equipment.
Capital Expenditures Company-Owned Store Count New Store Openings Pre-Opening Costs

See It in Company Research

These companies are examples of how the concept is reported or discussed in public filings. Definitions can differ by issuer; these links open company research rather than a normalized metric comparison.

PLAYOpen operating-model research →17 of 17 reviewed concepts in Entertainment Venue Store EconomicsRevenue mix, direct product costs, and store-level operating leverage8 of 8 bridge concepts supportedContinue through this bridge:Entertainment Cost Rate Entertainment Revenue Entertainment Revenue Mix Food & Beverage Cost Rate Food & Beverage Revenue Food & Beverage Revenue Mix Other Store Operating Expense Rate

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Compare labor leverage

Compare store labor intensity and how revenue growth or contraction changes payroll as a percentage of sales.

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