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SeaWorld CEO out as park attendance continues to sink

By
Josh Kosman
Published Feb. 27, 2018
Updated Feb. 28, 2018, 4:40 p.m. ET

SeaWorld Entertainment, dogged by continuing declines in attendance at its water parks, said Tuesday that CEO Joel Manby is stepping down.

Manby was hired three years ago to repair SeaWorld’s reputation that was sullied by the documentary “Blackfish.”

But despite his best efforts, Manby’s last two years produced attendance declines of 2.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, rival Disney reported record theme park attendance last year.

“Blackfish,” released in 2013, alleged the company mistreated orcas and endangered its trainers.

Manby, in an effort to right the ship, had stopped the practice of breeding orcas. But apparently it was not enough.

John Reilly, the chief parks operations officer, will take over the top spot on an interim basis. Chairman Yoshikazu Maruyama was also named interim executive chairman until a permanent CEO is found.

Efforts by the company to sell some of its parks to lift its share price have failed, sources said, and now it needs to develop a new strategy.

The company declined to comment on any possible efforts to sell some of its parks, citing a company policy against commenting on rumors. “As we noted in our press release, our improving fourth quarter 2017 and 2018 year-to-date trends indicate we are on the right path, and we continue to focus on the core elements of our plan and are intensifying our execution in these areas,” a company spokesman said.

Meanwhile, SeaWorld is adding new rides to some parks and pushing new marketing efforts.

“I would look at changing the name of the company,” consultant Dennis Speigel, with International Theme Park Services, told The Post, noting that he thinks the brand is too tarnished.

Hedge funds have made betting against SeaWorld a favorite position, shorting $422 million of the $1.3 billion market cap company’s stock, according to S3 Partners.

SeaWorld’s shares on Tuesday fell 5.2 percent to $14.92.

The question becomes if the company can reverse its decline before it ultimately sinks under its $1.6 billion in debt, sources said.