Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/research-trends/dave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance/ --- description: The September 14 filing reports an USD14.4 million deferred gift-card balance at August 4, distinguishing card obligations from arcade gameplay credits and prize tickets. title: Dave & Buster’s discloses USD11.5 million from opening gift-card deferrals image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/dave-buster-s-discloses-usd11-5-million-opening-gift-card-deferrals-c5e2144058b90c5edd51cdbe2bceadcc.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) # Dave & Buster’s discloses USD11.5 million from opening gift-card deferrals The September 14 filing reports an USD14.4 million deferred gift-card balance at August 4, distinguishing card obligations from arcade gameplay credits and prize tickets. By [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) September 14, 2026 2 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Dave+%26+Buster%E2%80%99s+discloses+USD11.5+million+from+opening+gift-card+deferrals&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Dave+%26+Buster%E2%80%99s+discloses+USD11.5+million+from+opening+gift-card+deferrals+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Customer hands holding a blue card at a retail payment terminal](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/dave-buster-s-discloses-usd11-5-million-opening-gift-card-deferrals-customer-w1280.webp) Illustrative retail card photograph. It does not depict a card, merchant or provider involved in this report. Photo: SpotOn / Unsplash [Dave & Buster's](https://giftcard.news/company/dave-buster-s/) recognized USD11.5 million of revenue in the six months ended August 4 from gift-card amounts deferred at the end of fiscal 2025\. The figure appears in its September 14 quarterly filing. The entertainment and dining operator's deferred gift-card revenue balance was USD14.4 million at August 4, compared with USD19.3 million at February 3\. The filing records that amount separately from deferred entertainment revenue. The data behind the story ### Dave & Buster’s deferred gift-card balances Gift-card obligation reported separately from entertainment credits. Deferred gift-card revenue USD million Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. Source Dave & Buster’s quarterly filing, note2 Point-in-time balances, not gross sales or redemptions. USD11.5 million recognized from the opening cohort is a separate flow. Gameplay credits and prize tickets are excluded. Show data tableHide data table Scroll left or right to see all columns __Dave & Buster’s deferred gift-card balances (USD million)__ | Category | Deferred gift-card revenue | | ---------------- | -------------------------- | | February 3, 2026 | 19.3 USD million | | August 4, 2026 | 14.4 USD million | That separation matters for interpreting the business. Arcade gameplay credits and tickets redeemable for prizes are distinct obligations. Their usage and breakage should not be added to the gift-card figures or described as retail gift-card redemption. The company says redeemed gift cards generate entertainment or food-and-beverage revenue, depending on the purchase. It recognizes gift-card breakage in proportion to customers' redemption patterns. The reviewed disclosure does not isolate a numerical gift-card breakage amount. The USD11.5 million covers recognition from the opening deferred balance. It is neither a total for all gift-card sales and redemptions during the half-year nor a measure of September activity. ## In this article ### Companies * [Dave & Buster's](https://giftcard.news/company/dave-buster-s/) ### Sources and documents * [Original official procurement or company disclosure](https://daveandbusters.gcs-web.com/node/18161/html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Dave & Buster's * [Official September 14 quarterly filing publication listing](https://daveandbusters.gcs-web.com/financials/sec-filings?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — Dave & Buster's Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=Dave+%26+Buster%E2%80%99s+discloses+USD11.5+million+from+opening+gift-card+deferrals&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=Dave+%26+Buster%E2%80%99s+discloses+USD11.5+million+from+opening+gift-card+deferrals+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fresearch-trends%2Fdave-busters-gift-card-opening-deferral-revenue-quarterly-balance%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [InComm’s holiday survey puts gift cards first in U.S. purchase plans](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/incomm-2026-holiday-gift-card-purchase-plans/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 21, 2026 5 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [Gift cards lead NRF’s 2026 holiday wish list at 47%](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/nrf-2026-holiday-gift-card-wish-list/) [Emma Carter](https://giftcard.news/author/emma-carter/) October 20, 2026 3 min [Research & Trends](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/) News ### [iGift’s three-brand index records a lower Roblox discount in week 42](https://giftcard.news/research-trends/igift-week42-2026-gift-card-discount-index/) [Oliver Reed](https://giftcard.news/author/oliver-reed/) October 19, 2026 4 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/#person","name":"Maya Bennett","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/","description":"Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Maya Bennett editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Maya Bennett, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/dave-buster-s-discloses-usd11-5-million-opening-gift-card-deferrals-customer.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/dave-buster-s-discloses-usd11-5-million-opening-gift-card-deferrals-customer.webp","width":1920,"height":1440,"caption":"Illustrative retail card photograph. 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