Six Flags Inc. (NYSE: SIX) disclosed in an SEC filing today that unless it can restructure its debt, it may have to file for bankruptcy."Given the current negative conditions in the economy generally and the credit markets in particular, there is substantial uncertainty that we will be able to effect a refinancing of our debt on or prior to maturity or the PIERS prior to their mandatory redemption date," the company said.
What's surprising -- and somewhat appalling -- to me is that the company continues to recruit aggressively on college campuses: Why would you waste young peoples' time and energy when you know that you're probably going to have to lay off a ton of people soon -- and really aren't in a position to do much hiring.
The good news for consumers is that the company's desperate need for revenue combined with the recession is leading to some pretty good deals on tickets, as Jason Cochran recently reported on WalletPop.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
3-12-2009 @ 3:21PM
mikemaj82 said...
I really don't see how they are going to have to file for bankruptcy with the prices they charge and the fact that every time I go to a park it's jam packed.
3-13-2009 @ 2:57PM
ilcchef said...
i go every Spring and Summer & i have a season pass for this year
3-15-2009 @ 6:03AM
nonny2t said...
Amusement parks charge absorbent ticket prices, like the other poster said, are always packed full of people and they still can't pay their debt? Where the heck is the money going?
3-15-2009 @ 6:31AM
Samster said...
Bottom line....CEO pay and bonus' have increased significantly over the years and to keep up with the monthly seven figure performance perks and yearly stock options that the greedy republican george bush lovin CEO's demand they'll need to raise admission prices and slash employee salaries. A recipe for disaster for ANY big business.
3-15-2009 @ 7:40AM
Lynda said...
we had the season passes last year and the parks were never crowded. i always noticed everytime we visited that we never had to stand on line for rides for more then 5 minutes. Also, it very expensive to eat lunch and dinner... you will spend over $100+ to eat never mind snacking. We always hid our snacks in our back packs and we always got caught and made us throw away what we hid. The snacks were for my 5 year old. We did purchase the season passes again this year so we will see.
3-15-2009 @ 7:49AM
rlty600 said...
six flags should survive...
how about a stimulus gift from the
american people...
if they can bail out aig, gm, chrysler,
goldman sachs, bac, banks, etc, etc, etc
certainly they can bail out a company
that does so much good for the children
and families of america. GO FOR IT
3-15-2009 @ 8:09AM
bandmom47 said...
who the hell cares...go bankrupt! This mess has caused my family and i to lose almost everything and all because of the actions of CORPORATE AMERICA'S misused and bad deeds. Screw CORPORATE AMERICA... I can't get a loan or a break so they shouldn't either...GO UNDER SIX FLAGS!
3-15-2009 @ 8:35AM
mom4timz said...
I hadn't been to Six Flags in years but was forced to go when my daughter had a cheerleading competition there. What a mess. First was the $15 parking fee. Really for that they should have washed my car. We had no intention of doing the rides but had to buy park tickets at a reduced price to see my daughter. The line we had to wait in was so incredibly slow we were afraid of missing my daughters performance. A man finally came out and started selling cash only tickets to get the line down. Well the ATM didn't work and we didn't bring enough cash to pay for the tickets for our whole family. I didn't expect them to be so expensive. I was there to see may daughter not visit their park. We finally get our tickets but didn't buy them for our 2 year olds sleeping in their stroller. I was sure they were below the height listed. At the gate they made me wake them and get them out of the stroller to measure them. 1/2" over the height so now we are back to the ticket line to wait but now with two screaming kids. Top this with the fact that I don't go on the rides at all and being overweight can't fit but I need a ticket to be allowed to stand and watch. What a joke. We just made her performance and because we now all had tickets the kids did some of the rides. We ended up having to buy lunch which was incredibly expensive and cold. I also don't like being searched when I enter a park. How insulting. When we were waiting for tickets there wasn't one happy person in that line. We never did that competition again and I never set foot in that park again and never will. It doesn't surprise me that this park is in trouble and I say that it serves them right. My experience with them was horrible and my day at the park was a disaster. We have a wonderful little park closer to us that allows you to bring in food and doesn't charge you to stand and watch. We have seasons passes for the kids and it works for my family. My older child would love to go back to Six Flags but it's not going to happen. I wouldn't give them a penny more of my money.
3-15-2009 @ 8:45AM
clymer5002 said...
I liked all the rides... Dad loved taking the whole family, mom loved the gyro ride. Mom rode that ride all the time it always made her happy, she moaned alot while riding it.
3-15-2009 @ 8:40AM
Andrew Michaelson said...
Spend a day at the NJ Six Flags. You'll be amazed they haven't gone bankrupt yet.
3-15-2009 @ 8:50AM
Marie said...
I WENT TO SIX FLAGS 25 YEARS AGO. ALL I SMELLED WAS POT. LATINO'S BUTTING IN LINE AND NO ONE DOING A DAMN THING ABOUT ANY OF IT. A NICE BLACK MAN SAID, HEY THE LINE IS BACK HERE, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO THE FRONT WITH 15 PEOPLE? THE GUY CAME BACK WITH A KNIFE AND SAID WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT? I NEVER WENT BACK AFTER THAT DAY. IT WAS SO CROWDED YOU COULDN'T EVEN GET PAST IN SOME PLACES OF THE PARK. HERSHEY PARK, DORNEY PARK, BUSH GARDENS, & KINGS DOMINION WOULD NEVER TOLERATE ANY BEHAVIOR LIKE THAT. PLEASE KEEP SIX FLAGS OPEN FOR ALL OF THE SCUM THAT GOES THERE. WE DON'T NEED PEOPLE LIKE THIS AT THE OTHER GOOD PARKS.
3-15-2009 @ 9:24AM
dENI said...
The Problem with 6 flags is that they don't open one in Cape Coral Florida
where people claim there is nothing to do.
There were rumors once plenty of land but nothing!!!
3-15-2009 @ 9:01AM
Bopco said...
We all know the reason why an overpriced park, to the point where it is a cruilty to children and parents alike would be going out of business... CEO GREED!!!
And for the last 30 years people have been calling people like me a Dirty Hippy, when the most unAmerican of us all, is the coperate leech society... 100 men bust their backs in the USA, to build one lously car and the CEO of the company made double all of their salary that day, to plant his Faggot Ass in a chair, or maybe a Jet Plane painted in his favorite color. And people wondered why Americia, the Greatest Country on Earth, stopped being the number one Car Manufacturer in the World??? Go ahead, stick your hand in that $7 bag of six flag Jiffy Pop and ask me to explain it to you... And don't forget to say Hi, Mr Bush, Thank You for almost shutting down the whole country, never mind ending Childhood... Oh, but Obama is going to fix this??? Jesus Christ, our political and corporate structure, over the last 30 years has resulted in a near Zero GNP for the USA, a country who is trying to both feed and govern the entire world, spend a few billion, here and there, to blow a few of them up... Yet we walked into this last "War" knowing we had the profit of selling absloutely nothing, to pay for those 100K plus a pop fireworks, never mind the morality of what we were doing... Ask me why Rome Fell, I dare you!!! :-)
3-15-2009 @ 9:14AM
bronxferret1951 said...
The Great Escape in the Lake George area bought out all the property across the road from their location to the Northway (I-87) for about 1/2 mile in both directions. This meant buying out the owners of the motels, reastaurants, etc.
A small mom and pop motel and their property directly across got totally bulldozed starting one or two days from they took possession and immediately turned into additional parking. It seems to be like they over-expanded faster than the market could bare.
3-15-2009 @ 9:18AM
CHARITY FORTUNE said...
Just another in a long list of assets the bankruptcy pigs are trying to offload. Far as I'm concerned the old ugly fat bastard can't lift the reels on the shelf let alone balance the budget. Nope, that cat smells man. Big time.
3-15-2009 @ 9:31AM
lindsey said...
I had to do a business analysis on Six Flags last year in my business cap stone class. They have been struggeling for the last few years. Yes high rates of pay for the top executives doesn't help, but a lot of their issues stem back to lawsuits. Every park has them, it's just they don't make as much money as other parks. They are also battleing a bad reputation. They have sold many of their parks and "future" sites in the last couple of years. But come on seriously, even if you charge $25 admission how much do you think their expenses cost. Upkeep isn't cheap, and in a recession people just don't spend as much on entertainment.
3-15-2009 @ 9:38AM
dave said...
I used to go to The Great Escape near Lake George NY. We went there
once after 6 flags bought them out. That was the last time we ever
went there......Prices increased, everyday items that were once free
i.e. water park tubes, started charging $5 a day multiply that for
a family of 6, it gets to be rediculous. Hooray that their greed
and over pricing got the best of them. I'm one who is glad they're
going under
3-15-2009 @ 9:45AM
Fairygirl said...
Well, the problem in California has been gangs...not people not
wanting to spend money but, people not wanting to put up with the
gangs that now infect this Amusement park. Sadly the last time I was
there which was 3 years ago they were still allowing loud, raunchy,
rude groups of gangs into the park...these people would throw up
their gang signs, curse at you, call you names and even pick fights
with kids under 12. The security there can do little except watch
them. For the longest time they didnt even do that. They just let
them roam the park ...sadly most of them were not even teenagers but,
clearly over the age of 18. My cousin worked there and had recently
quit she said that the harassment had only gotten far worse than it
ever was before with constant fights breaking out. people picking
fights with parents of children ect...Magic Mountain in California
only has itself to blame for its instant loss of people willing to
spend their money at a place they will be followed around and baited
by gangs. People stopped letting their kids go with friends because
it was too dangerous. Needless to say most of the gang activity is
latino. It is a serious problem on the west coast...people are tired
of it and where they go people who actually have money to spend do
NOT. It was my favorite Amusement park until this chaos and sadly
they could just never get a handle on the situation nor were they
ever able to enforce their rules and regulations. Sadly many teens
and young adults who work at these parks will lose their jobs do to
this exact same mismanagement. Perhaps next time they will cater to
the people who actually spend money there rather than cater to the
will of the gangs who inhabit the park now. However, this is the
California Park not any of the others.....
On top of all this the costs kept going up but, the quality of its visitors have gone way, way down...
3-15-2009 @ 9:58AM
Chuck said...
Bottom line....CEO pay and bonus' have increased significantly over the years and to keep up with the monthly seven figure performance perks and yearly stock options that the greedy republican george bush lovin CEO's demand they'll need to raise admission prices and slash employee salaries. A recipe for disaster for ANY big business. "I AGREE"!!!
3-15-2009 @ 10:08AM
Redskin Fan said...
F Dan Snyder I hope it goes under and he dies