I don’t think the SeaWorld parks’ attendance and finances are as bad as some expect.
Prior to COVID, the rides strategy was working well, as their park attendance figures were beginning to increase towards the end of the 2010s.
And their attendances aren’t exactly terrible either. SWO got 4.6 million in 2019, BGT got 4.2 million and SWSD got 3.7 million. Even when taking into account that these are 365 day parks, those would be higher average figures on a per-day basis than any of the UK parks and many of the European properties. And while I’m not 100% on BGW and SWSA, BGW got a little shy of 3 million last time it was in the TEA report a few years ago, and SWSA got a bit over 2 million in the one TEA report it appeared in, quite a few years back. And neither of those parks are year-round like the others; I think they might be March-January, with limited operating calendars over Christmas?
Compare that to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (Geauga Lake); even in their peak attendance year just after the purchase of SeaWorld Ohio, attendance was only around 1.5 million, and quickly fell to around 700,000. And this is for a park that was the biggest in the world, with an incredibly extensive ride lineup at its peak; following Six Flags’ phenomenal investment into it, Geauga Lake peaked at a size far bigger than any of SeaWorld’s current parks. Given Six Flags’ 2000s strategy of cheap season passes and the like, I can imagine profit margins there were abysmally low compared to any of SeaWorld’s current properties.
SeaWorld’s recent profit figures are fairly promising too. In their September 2021 financial report, they said that the parks generated $521m in revenue, $198m in operating income and $102m in net income.
And even in the first 6 months of 2021, where some of their parks were shut due to COVID restrictions, revenue was up 8.3% on 2019 levels, with spending per guest being very strong, and EBITDA and net income hitting record levels:
https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/seaworld-entertainment-latest-financial-report/
So my takeaway here is; I don’t think SeaWorld has too much to be worried about.