Six Flags' Attendance and Revenue Are PLUMMETING - Inside the Magic

This beloved chain of local family theme parks may be in some hot water, based on a recent earnings call.

Six Flags Entertainment Company has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022. The company runs 27 parks, including the entire Six Flags franchise of parks, Frontier City, La Ronde, and the Hurricane Harbor waterparks. It will be celebrating its 62nd birthday this year.

The parks debuted several new attractions and offerings this year, including Kid Flash Cosmic Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia, Aquaman: Power Wave at Six Flags Over Texas, and Rookie Racer at Six Flags St. Louis. They also recently announced a new hard ticket event, Scream Break, which brings all of the fun and frights of their annual Fright Fest event to select spring break nights.

However, despite the opening of new attractions and heavy marketing pushes, Six Flags reported the continuation of a downward slide in revenue and attendance. The company posted a 26% drop in attendance last year over 2021. For the full year, the company reported revenue of $1.358 billion, which is a 9% decrease. This is despite a 22% increase in average Guest spending, which rose from $52.40 per Guest in 2021 to $63.93 per Guest in 2022, partially driven by higher admission prices.

Despite the rise in spending, admission prices may have done more harm than good. The company reported a massive drop in attendance, from 27.7 million visitors to 20.4 million, which led to an overall drop in income and revenue. Six Flags blamed this on fewer operating days, as six of their parks that were open for the holiday season in 2021 were not in 2022. However, that portion accounted for just over a quarter million of the 1.7 million visitor attendance drop for the quarter. Their stock price jumped nearly 5% after the earnings report, although it remains down 35% from last year.

“I’m proud of our team’s commitment to elevating the Guest experience,” Six Flags President and CEO Selim Bassoul said. “In the fourth quarter, we launched three new events and amplified our largest event of the year, Fright Fest, which drove improved attendance trends and Guest satisfaction. Our team is hard at work developing an exciting lineup of new events, rides, and attractions for 2023 as we look to build on our success in the fourth quarter.”