Credit: SeaWorldSeaWorld San Diego is no stranger to controversy – and its latest scandal continues to worsen.
Anyone entrenched in the world of theme parks knows that the next drama is never too far away. For SeaWorld, it feels like that drama never ceases. The theme park operator – which boasts parks in San Diego, Orlando, and San Antonio, having closed up its Ohio park two decades ago – has faced significant controversy in recent years.
Since the release of the 2013 documentary Blackfish, the parks have been under fire for alleged mistreatment of marine animals, particularly orcas and dolphins, raising serious concerns about the ethics of keeping these creatures in captivity.
The documentary focused on Tilikum, the infamous killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando involved in three of the four deadly orca attacks on humans – SeaWorld has experienced a huge dip in attendance. While revenue has increased at its parks, its biggest location – SeaWorld Orlando – received just 4.54 million guests in 2022 compared to 5.36 million in 2012 (pre-Blackfish).
Of course, the pandemic didn’t help SeaWorld’s attendance problem. The resort has struggled to boost attendance since COVID-19, with its West Coast park actually refusing to pay rent during its virus-induced closure.
In 2023, the City of San Diego sued SeaWorld for over $12 million in unpaid rent and interest. This was accumulated during the closure of its Southern California park from March 2020 to April 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per the terms of its lease, SeaWorld—which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary—is required to pay San Diego either a specific percentage of its gross revenue or a minimum of $867,000 per month, whichever is more.
The city filed a complaint last September alleging that SeaWorld breached its lease by failing to pay rent for nine months and by paying less than the minimum amount of rent in 2021. When making late payments for 2020, SeaWorld allegedly calculated its rent based on a percentage of its gross revenue. As the park was closed due to local COVID-19 restrictions, this came to considerably less than $867,000 per month.
“On information and belief, SeaWorld had, and has, the financial ability to pay the rent, surcharge, audit cost, audit interest, late fees, and all other amounts due under the Lease,” the city said in its complaint. “It disclosed its lease obligation to the City of between $8.3 million and $10.9 million in its annual and public reports.”
During an audit in 2022, the city found that SeaWorld San Diego – which is home to attractions such as Arctic Rescue, Electric Eel, Riptide Rescue, and Shipwreck Rapids – had underpaid rent and surcharges for its Mission Bay property by approximately $8.9 million between 2019 and 2021. This case is still ongoing and, as per the latest update, is nowhere near resolved.
In a legal brief filed last week requesting additional time to meet several pre-trial deadlines, the San Diego City Attorney’s Office revealed that settlement efforts have been unsuccessful so far. Adding to the challenge, city attorneys noted difficulties in obtaining sufficient responses from SeaWorld for key documents requested during the discovery process.
This comes on the heels of another pandemic-related legal defeat for SeaWorld. Earlier this month, we reported that a U.S. District Court judge in Florida ordered SeaWorld to pay Sesame Workshop over $11 million in licensing fees and interest for IP used in its Sesame Street-themed parks (known as Sesame Place) and lands.
SeaWorld had neglected to pay these fees while its parks were closed during the pandemic and argued that Sesame Workshop was trying to take advantage of its situation during the pandemic.
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