A STORM is brewing at Six Flags as the amusement giant stares down a mountain of debt, park closures and fears of bankruptcy.
The theme park chain, which merged with rival Cedar Fair last year, is now saddled with $500 million in debt and plunging revenue.
Six Flags is drowning in debt after shuttering two parks (stock)[/caption]
The financial crisis comes less than a year after its high-profile merger with Cedar Fair (stock)[/caption]
The company, parent of Cedar Point, Kings Island and dozens of other amusement parks across North America, has already shut down two properties and is weighing more sales.
“The whole company needs to be reimagined,” Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati, told Cleveland.com.
Speigel said the company’s latest earnings report was alarming: a 9% drop in attendance, season pass sales down 8%, and revenue off by $100 million.
“We have not felt the aftershocks from this,” he warned, adding bankruptcy is not out of the question.
Analyst James Hardiman of Citi Research agreed, saying Six Flags will likley need to shed properties to stay afloat.
“Everything should be on the table as we think about asset sales,” said Hardiman, who has tracked the industry for decades.
But he noted that flagship parks like Cedar Point would likely be spared in any liquidation.
Six Flags has already started the first sale.
Earlier this year, the company announced it would close Six Flags America in Maryland, which shuts down next month.
It is also offloading land near Kings Dominion in Virginia and will close California’s Great America near San Francisco in 2027.
“If I were running the company, there are 10 to 12 parks I would keep, pay off debt and start over,” said Speigel.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the company on the precipice of bankruptcy to get that debt off the books.”
Six Flags spokesman Gary Rhodes insisted the company can still recover by trimming non-core assets and growing the business.
But both Speigel and Hardiman said the problems began long before the balance sheet collapse.
Six Flags Crisis at a Glance
Debt & Losses
- $500M in debt
- Revenue down $100M in Q2
- Attendance dropped 9%
- Season pass sales down 8%
Park Closures & Sales
- Six Flags America (Maryland) closing next month
- Land near Kings Dominion (Virginia) up for sale
- California’s Great America closing in 2027
- More park sales expected
Leadership Shake-Up
- CEO Richard Zimmerman stepping down end of 2025
- Chairman Selim Bassoul remains in charge
- Analysts believe Zimmerman was forced out
Merger Fallout
- Six Flags + Cedar Fair merger completed July 2024
- Executives predicted 6% attendance growth in 2025
- Instead, saw a 9% decline
Consumer Backlash
- New fees for haunted houses at HalloWeekends angering passholders
- 27 park presidents eliminated, 10% workforce cut
Legal Trouble
- Two national law firms circling with possible securities-fraud class action
Six Flags completed its merger with Cedar Fair in July 2024, in what was pitched as a blockbuster deal between two of the country’s biggest regional amusement park operators.
Less than a year later, in May 2025, executives were telling investors to expect a strong summer season, with attendance projected to climb by as much as 6%.
Instead, attendance plunged 9%.
“It’s about the biggest miss I’ve ever seen in the theme park industry versus expectations,” Hardiman said.
The fallout has already triggered two law firms to solicit clients for a possible securities-fraud class action lawsuit.
Leadership turmoil has added to the chaos.
On the same day as the earnings report, CEO Richard Zimmerman announced he would step down at the end of the year.
Zimmerman had led Cedar Fair for years before the merger but insiders believe the Six Flags board forced him out.
Meanwhile, chairman Selim Bassoul, who once ran Six Flags, has stayed in charge even while taking on another role at a Canadian meal-kit company.
Hardiman called Zimmerman’s exit “odd,” especially mid-season when attendance had begun to rebound slightly.
The company said July saw 4% uptick in visitors compared to earlier in the summer.
Carissa Baker of the University of Central Florida said all mergers come with growing pains, but losing Zimmerman so soon was “disappointing.”
The company has blamed poor weather, with 20% of operating days disrupted and 49 total days lost to extreme conditions.
But Speigel dismissed weather as a convenient excuse, saying the real issue was an overestimation of demand for multi-park passes.
Earlier this year, Six Flags slashed 27 park presidents and cut 10% of its year-round staff, including about 40 jobs at Cedar Point.
In a controversial move, the company is also charging extra this fall for haunted houses at Halloween events, angering loyal passholders.
Stock prices have reflected the decline, dropping to $23.84 last week, less than half their pre-merger value.
