Theme Park Merger Bolsters Regional Competition

Contact Sales for more details.

Six Flags’ and Cedar Fair’s announcement to merge yields a portfolio of 42 parks, 9 hotels, and other attractions across 17 states, combining Cedar Fair’s dominant presence in the Midwest (42% of portfolio) with Six Flags’ dominant presence in the South (39% of portfolio). 

Over the last two years, both parks combined accounted for over 20% of nationwide theme park traffic across the largest banners, according to Earnest Foot Traffic data. In California, where theme park competition is fierce and dominated by Disney’s 59% share and Universal’s 14% share in 2022, both Six Flags and Cedar Fair attracted 16% of attendance combined, followed by Legoland and SeaWorld, both 5%.

In contrast, a combined Six Flags and Cedar Fair  would dominate both Texas and the Northeast. In Texas, both combined parks attracted ~70% of attendance (Six Flags’ 50% + Cedar Fair’s 20%), competing with SeaWorld’s ~25% and Legoland’s 5%. In the Northeast, both parks accounted for 65% of attendance, competing with Legoland’s 20%, Nickelodeon’s 10%, and SeaWorld’s 5%. 

Importantly, however, the combined entity will continue to be entirely absent in Florida, a Disney stronghold.