Attendance Issues Force Six Flags CEO To Step Down, Fueling Speculation About Parks Sell Off

During its first quarter earnings report this year, Six Flags Entertainment, the largest theme park company in North America, told investors that its saw a 17 percent decline in attendance. At the time, CEO Richard Zimmerman told investors that inclement weather was to blame for a slow start to the season, as rainstorms nationwide slowed guests coming to the parks.

With those numbers in the reaview mirror, Zimmerman hoped to deliver better news when he met with investors to give the company’s second quarter earnings, but it was not to be, and now, Zimmerman is paying the price for Six Flags’ decline.

On Wednesday, Zimmerman told investors that Six Flgs saw a $100 million decline in revneue during the second quarter and a nine percent decline in attendance and an eight percent decline in season pass purchases. Before announcing the numbers, Zimmerman told investors that he would be stepping down as CEO as soon as the Board could find a replacement.

Zimmerman told investors:

The start of the 2025 season, including our second quarter results reported today, fell significantly short of our expectations, a disappointing outcome given the solid progress we achieved post-merger with smart, early-stage initiatives coupled with a very compelling capital program designed to kickstart the 2025 season and perpetuate the momentum we had created over the second half of 2024.

The decrease in attendance in the quarter reflects a drop in single-day ticket sales, fewer sales of season passes and memberships, and lower renewal rates on season passes. The sales cycle was negatively impacted by exogenous events such as poor weather and a challenged consumer across most of North American markets.

Before the merger, Zimmerman was the CEO of Cedar Fair and took over as the president and CEO of the combined company. He will remain in place as the Chairman of the Board of Directors after a new CEO is in place.

Earlier this year, SIx Flags began cutting management staff across its parks in an attempt to save millions. The comany also announced the closure of Six Flags America in Maryland, and potentially closing Six Flags Great America in California.

However, this latest news has fans and theme park journalist wondering if there are more closures in Six Flags’ future. With reports of Six Flags parks facing operational issues and the potential for weather issues to continue, it’s possible that Six Flags could see an even greater decline in the third quarter.

Zimmerman did point out that the third quarter was off to a solid start; however, that was before flooding shut down some of the comany’s Ohio parks and it began cancelling its Halloween activities at parks nationwide.

Six Flags does not expect to have a new CEO in place prior to the start of the new year, so Zimmerman will remain in place for the entire 2025 season. We’ll see if the new CEO can right the biggest theme park ship in North America.

What have your experience been in Six Flags this season? Let us know in the comments.