SeaWorld Entertainment Corporate News (Old Leadership Thread)

[shiekra38]

If you look at it from a non managerial and purely numerical standpoint, you are correct that a bankrupt SeaWorld (whilst not likely) is a possibility worth considering.

However, in reality, there are so many things that management can do to avoid this scenario. Whether that be debt restructuring, more agressive operational cost savings etc, the list goes on. SeaWorld will not go bankrupt.

The only way SeaWorld will go bankrupt is if management just sit there and take no preventative action.

What does a Sea World in 2020 look like to you?

 

[JMan]

So here is my whole take on this deal and Seas future. Everyone fights whether they have gone too animal focused or too ride based. The thing is SeaWorld was always a healthy mix of both. But what they need to learn is they have taught us to much about marine mammals and haven’t updated with the times. No recent large enclosures or aquariums. I expect Seaworld to have the largest aquarium on earth and the best tech to go along with that. They should have a Georgia aquarium on steroids. Along with that the long orca debate. We can all agree as well we have taught ourselves to much about this species which is great but it’s long past to either build a huge enclosure or move to an open ocean pen and slowly move the orcas one at a time there. Always in veterinary care but plenty of room to swim and live peacefully. This should be the seaworld moving forward.

 

[Tobias]

So here is my whole take on this deal and Seas future. Everyone fights whether they have gone too animal focused or too ride based. The thing is SeaWorld was always a healthy mix of both. But what they need to learn is they have taught us to much about marine mammals and haven’t updated with the times. No recent large enclosures or aquariums. I expect Seaworld to have the largest aquarium on earth and the best tech to go along with that. They should have a Georgia aquarium on steroids. Along with that the long orca debate. We can all agree as well we have taught ourselves to much about this species which is great but it’s long past to either build a huge enclosure or move to an open ocean pen and slowly move the orcas one at a time there. Always in veterinary care but plenty of room to swim and live peacefully. This should be the seaworld moving forward.

The Blue World Project would've been going in that direction, but it was cancelled soooo...no luck there.

-----

Anyways, it's as they say. The numbers don't lie, and SeaWorld's debt to earnings ratio is gradually climbing to that 5.75x which'll have them default. They're at 5.08x, time is ticking and that ratio is not dropping.

I'm in the boat that SW is either gonna' get bought out or go bankrupt, they need a lot of money to take care of that debt and it's just not coming.

 

[shiekra38]

So here is my whole take on this deal and Seas future. Everyone fights whether they have gone too animal focused or too ride based. The thing is SeaWorld was always a healthy mix of both. But what they need to learn is they have taught us to much about marine mammals and haven’t updated with the times. No recent large enclosures or aquariums. I expect Seaworld to have the largest aquarium on earth and the best tech to go along with that. They should have a Georgia aquarium on steroids. Along with that the long orca debate. We can all agree as well we have taught ourselves to much about this species which is great but it’s long past to either build a huge enclosure or move to an open ocean pen and slowly move the orcas one at a time there. Always in veterinary care but plenty of room to swim and live peacefully. This should be the seaworld moving forward.

Great viewpoints...I see SeaWorld existing moving forward, but just not as SeaWorld..I feel the brand is too tarnished

A Sea themed park is always relevant

Blackstone is the issue here...We need a Comcast situation, where a company that actually enjoys theme parks is in charge...Unfortunately, I don't think Sea World has a "Harry Potter" up their sleeve...And they are in more dangerous territory competition wise than Busch Gardens down the road..

A complete overhaul of the park is needed, complete rebrand, new direction...That's a lot for one CEO to make happen

 

[knoxmyers]

Could the future of Sea World Orlando have any bearing on Uni South? I would be nervous for that kind of property with existing infrastructure being bought by any competitor before the South Park is built. Could Comcast be pressured (real or imagined) to make a play for it? I realize this is pure speculation, but when a company has this kind of shake up again (leadership at the top) and continues to have financial woes, things tend to happen fast.

 

[zg44]

Could the future of Sea World Orlando have any bearing on Uni South? I would be nervous for that kind of property with existing infrastructure being bought by any competitor before the South Park is built. Could Comcast be pressured (real or imagined) to make a play for it? I realize this is pure speculation, but when a company has this kind of shake up again (leadership at the top) and continues to have financial woes, things tend to happen fast.

Not unless the buyer is Disney. (And from their current plans, they're not considering this kind of move).

Only Disney and Universal have the financial ability and IPs to create the full theme park experience at the high end of the market.

Cedar Fair and Six Flags (or Merlin) are logical buyers for SW/BG, but none of them have the ability to transform the park into a legit competitor to the Universal's 3rd park/2nd resort.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Cedar Fair and Six Flags (or Merlin) are logical buyers for SW/BG, but none of them have the ability to transform the park into a legit competitor to the Universal's 3rd park/2nd resort.

I get the impression that whatever deal will happen, it will not include San Diego, San Antonio, Orlando, and the Aquatica parks; and is instead consisting more of Busch Gardens Tampa & Williamsburg, Adventure Island, Water Country USA, and Sesame Place (along with the Sesame Street theme park rights on a domestic front).

In a strange way, I just don't see anyone wanting to touch anything directly related to SeaWorld, even the Aquatica waterparks, due to the issues it would cause for the parent company.

 

[Mad Dog]

BGW would be a good buy for someone. It did quite well before In Bev and Blackstone got their greedy hands on the park, and cut, cut, cut. They basically alienated the much higher spending tourist demographic to cater to the teenage coaster crowd. The area the park is located in is one of the Prime tourist destinations in the USA. Old town Williamsburg, Jamestown museum/settlement and original settlement dig, Yorktown, Carter's Grove etc. attract a ton of tourists, not only in the summer, but all year long. BGW could easily return to it's former glory with the right ownership group.

 

[quinnmac000]

I should point out historical a certain company very much wanted to buy Seaworld before they had their own park and potentially for legacy do so whilst revamping the park mission.

 

[shiekra38]

I should point out historical a certain company very much wanted to buy Seaworld before they had their own park and potentially for legacy do so whilst revamping the park mission.

Wanda?

 

[SeventyOne]

A Sea themed park is always relevant

From a creative perspective, sure. But from a business perspective? Vacations are shrinking--the 2-week long road trip is basically done. 4-day vacations are becoming the rule, not the exception. Come 2020, Disney has a lock on 1 day at MK, 1 day in Star Wars park ...and they'll throw in a discount to keep you a third and even fourth day, but most tourists like a cheap pool day. Universal doing much the same, with its three parks. It's in the big boys' interest to keep their guests from going up the road--Sea World an unintentional casualty on either side.

Meanwhile, on the less expensive end of the spectrum, if you want thrills, Fun Spot and Andretti Park offer cheaper options. If you want animals, Sea Life and the Central Florida Zoo offer cheaper options.

In the real world, I just don't see who a revitalized SW is aimed at.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Merlin or Wanda Group I can see the only buyers be.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

From a creative perspective, sure. But from a business perspective? Vacations are shrinking--the 2-week long road trip is basically done. 4-day vacations are becoming the rule, not the exception. Come 2020, Disney has a lock on 1 day at MK, 1 day in Star Wars park ...and they'll throw in a discount to keep you a third and even fourth day, but most tourists like a cheap pool day. Universal doing much the same, with its three parks. It's in the big boys' interest to keep their guests from going up the road--Sea World an unintentional casualty on either side.

Meanwhile, on the less expensive end of the spectrum, if you want thrills, Fun Spot and Andretti Park offer cheaper options. If you want animals, Sea Life and the Central Florida Zoo offer cheaper options.

In the real world, I just don't see who a revitalized SW is aimed at.

A first step would be for moving the existing ticket pricing to two days then offering a one day ticket at $62. So instead of guests going to VB or another park they’d go to SW. Plus this helps with locals and groups who have a certain headcount they can’t go over.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Merlin or Wanda Group I can see the only buyers be.

I see only Merlin or Parques, not Wanda, Six Flags, or Cedar Fair.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think it ultimately will be broken up and parks sold piecemeal......Probably not going to happen, but BGW alone could work for Universal. BGW is almost a full year park already, since it has a fairly strong Fall horror season and a strong Christmas season to go with late spring and summer. If Universal would throw some money at the park, perhaps a few cloned D ticket family attractions, restore good entertainment, accentuate the old Europe theme, add more & larger festivals, build an on site hotel, start opening in mid March (only downtime would be Jan./ Feb), strong marketing to the northeast which is an easy drive, and tie it in with Williamsburg area/Virginia Beach vacations, the park could be fairly successful. The park, even after Blackstone controlled management neglect, is still one of the world's most beautiful parks, it's huge in area, has a very large expansion area ready to go, and as I said previously, it's located in one of the nation's largest tourist destinations.

 

[Ultranel]

From a creative perspective, sure. But from a business perspective? Vacations are shrinking--the 2-week long road trip is basically done. 4-day vacations are becoming the rule, not the exception. Come 2020, Disney has a lock on 1 day at MK, 1 day in Star Wars park ...and they'll throw in a discount to keep you a third and even fourth day, but most tourists like a cheap pool day. Universal doing much the same, with its three parks. It's in the big boys' interest to keep their guests from going up the road--Sea World an unintentional casualty on either side.

Meanwhile, on the less expensive end of the spectrum, if you want thrills, Fun Spot and Andretti Park offer cheaper options. If you want animals, Sea Life and the Central Florida Zoo offer cheaper options.

In the real world, I just don't see who a revitalized SW is aimed at.

LOL didn't even know we had a zoo here... I know Brevard does, but where's the one in Orange County?

 

[Teebin]

Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens

It’s in Seminole county... but just over the border from orange...

 

[GadgetGuru]

Merlin or Wanda Group I can see the only buyers be.

I see only Merlin or Parques, not Wanda, Six Flags, or Cedar Fair.

I could see Merlin trying to buy up Seaworld Orlando and cement themselves as the third major player in Orlando. They do enough regional stuff that they could be interested in the other parks though.

Wanda is always in the cards, but they seem more movie focused. I don't know how much the SeaWorld brand would attract them.

Parques... I don't know anything about them, so I won't give an opinion.

Cedar Fair + Six Flags are already too big. They couldn't use SeaWorld to build their economies of scale and their business model doesn't seem to support capital heavy parks like SW Orlando or San Diego

 

[ChrisFL]

Often when things happen to businesses like this, I do my own "what if" scenario, like what I would do if I was in charge.....and usually I can come up with good ideas.

For Sea World though, I'm stumped.

 

[zg44]

Often when things happen to businesses like this, I do my own "what if" scenario, like what I would do if I was in charge.....and usually I can come up with good ideas.

For Sea World though, I'm stumped.

I think the most obvious thing for SeaWorld to do if its leadership is unwilling or can't find a cash-rich buyer to purchase them, is that they need to figure out a strategy that can dump most of their debt.

I brought up before that Six Flags dropped nearly 60-70% of its debt in 2008 through a restructuring that enabled it to begin spending at a higher rate and making upgrades across the chain.

The same is true of SeaWorld; they've cut their investment spending from when their attendance as at its peak around 2007-2008, but if they could cut around $1 billion off of their $1.6 billion in debt, then they'd be able to spend again at a higher rate.

i.e. If they cut their debt down to $600 million, then they'd be able to spend at least an extra $50-75 million a year on investment.

Basically, a debt restructuring where they convert $1 billion of debt into equity (stock) is what they need more than anything if they're to remain independent.