SIX adds Jonathan Brudnick to board

"...enters its next chapter of growth and value creation. ...seeing its full value unlocked in the years ahead."

This is exactly why Bassoul needs to go. If this is your focus, instead of operating a hospitality business, your focus is ****ed up. I'm not naive, I get that it's a business, but being successful starts with getting the product right. The money will come if you get it right. Ask Dolly or the Kochs. Guests don't care about "value creation," which is MBA nonsense. Show them a good time, and you can print money.

Selim - “Jonathan’s appointment advances the Board’s ongoing refreshment process and we are pleased to welcome him to the Board,” said Bassoul. “As an engaged shareholder with significant capital markets and transaction experience, Jonathan brings important perspectives that will be additive to our Board as the Company enters its next chapter of growth and value creation. Six Flags is a great business with tremendous upside, and I look forward to seeing its full value unlocked in the years ahead.”

Nothing but corporate jargon that, to me at least, screams "I don't really know what I'm talking about, but here's a bunch of buzzwords."

The new guy - “It is a privilege to join the Six Flags Board at such a pivotal moment for the Company, and we appreciate the constructive engagement we have had with the Board and management team,” said Brudnick. “We invested in Six Flags because we strongly believe in the potential of the business and that numerous pathways exist to addressing the Company’s current undervaluation. I look forward to working with my fellow directors to continue the important work underway to ensure Six Flags builds on its legacy as the premier amusement park company in North America.”

Sounds like he's at least trying to speak regular people. Still only focuses on the investment side of things. Not the actual state of the parks or the experience.

Au contraire. What I read in those is "This is a guy who knows how to manage debt offerings and sell off parts of a company, and that's something we're going to need to do."

Yeah “numerous pathways exist to addressing the Company’s current undervaluation” ought to send a chill down the spine of someone who loves their local park.

There sure are a lot of words, but the simple version is that activist shareholders who are pushing for land sale now have a seat on the board.

The feeling is nearly unanimous among the industry folks that I've talked to - at this point that the only way to prevent bankruptcy is to sell assets. How much, how soon, and will it be enough are the only real question at this point.

What a ******* disaster they have made of this.

Previously, he held roles at a number of private equity and public market investment firms.

So he knows precisely dick about running amusement parks, but can certainly help selling off assets and creating leaseback agreements.

MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Didn't the orange turd have a degree from Wharton, that inspires confidence. MBA, that is just a program that teaches you how to extract as much value and not put much emphasis on the product or experience.

Assuming you’re talking about the president, yeah, he did, same as Warren Buffett and Elon Musk. And honestly, who cares where the MBA came from? It’s just a fancy piece of paper saying you jumped through the hoops. What actually matters is gut instinct and let’s hope this guy’s got some.

“Industry experts” don’t mean dick in an industry this small. What we need are people who can step back, look at the whole picture, and make decisions that actually benefit the company and the guests walking through the gates. Check the egos at the door, we need people who aren’t afraid to shake things up, tackle the debt monster, and cut the fat.

They might even need to downsize to something more realistic. Selling off a few big-ticket parks could free up real cash and give them some breathing room. And yeah, I’m talking flagships, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Magic Mountain, the big dogs. Just shutting parks down and letting the land rot doesn’t help anyone. It saves a few bucks, sure, but it doesn’t fix the core issue.

As an enthusiast and a stakeholder, I want nothing more than this company to succeed. I won't be satisfied until most of that board has been replaced. They found Daddy's keys and smashed the car into the back of the garage.

This is BAD News for the company and the parks.

DS:

They might even need to downsize to something more realistic. Selling off a few big-ticket parks could free up real cash and give them some breathing room.

So, weren’t they in a much better position prior to the merger? I thought they had breathing room. Why are we celebrating fresh blood, that on paper looks questionable at best?

Maybe industry experts don’t mean dick, but I would much prefer an industry expert over a finance guru, or a PE genius.

Jeff:

The money will come if you get it right. Ask Dolly or the Kochs

I’m genuinely asking: how do we know Dollywood and Holiday World are doing well? Do they release earnings reports even though they aren’t publicly traded?

Well, Herschend did just buy a bunch of parks.

And Dollywood is spending $500 million in the next ten years on their park. $50 million of that is for their new 2025 ride, the largest investment in park history. That's probably not something you'd do if you were not anticipating your park to grow attendance and profit. They are notoriously busy during peak season. They redesigned their entrance area recently to handle the growing crowds. They seem to be adding on to their parking lot each year lately. They are doing well.

And they still have parking lot trams. Now, that ain’t cheap.

And:

Live E, a real coal fired train, enjoyable park food, charm, trees, rides that don’t randomly close because of deferred maintenance, they run more than one train, clean well presented park.

Yeah, I don’t think Dollywood is what you would call cash strapped.

…..”Well, Herschend did just buy a bunch of parks.”

the rancid corpse of Gary Story just stirred.

TheMillenniumRider, Dollywood isn't perfect though. Tennessee Tornado has two trains but usually only runs one. Lightning Rod has had a lot of downtime throughout its lifetime- I still haven't been able to ride it. A lot of their coasters only run two trains, which is bad for capacity. They need more high capacity attractions because ride lines can get very long. The park is growing quickly, but it's because it is getting more and more popular each year. It is out of necessity.

I wonder if they can eliminate the dead end they are creating by adding a second path into Wildwood Grove behind Thunderhead?

It's still one of the best parks in the country.

Tyler2012:

I’m genuinely asking: how do we know Dollywood and Holiday World are doing well? Do they release earnings reports even though they aren’t publicly traded?

Attend Dollywood and observe the attendance of customers from year to year in the same time period. Customers that they are paying $90 for a one day ticket, $200+ for a one park, season pass, and paying for every meal since meal plans don’t exist…….they not only seem to be increasing in attendance. They also have gate integrity.

Also the fact that the park continues to expand its footprint without removing attractions.

As Jeff said above. Dollywood is a perfect example of giving the customer a superior managed experience and attendance following

Their main issue going forward is that attendance is increasing above the capacity of their medium capacity rides…. they really don’t have any high capacity rides other than maybe the log flume.

Seems clear to me: The parks that only know how to install thrill rides are not growing. For whatever reason, they aren’t changing their approach which is the confusing part.