The roller coasters aren’t the only things plunging at Six Flags — its finances are, too. Saddled with over $5 billion in debt and a string of park closures, the theme park giant is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for the second time. But how did one of America’s most iconic amusement brands end up in such a precarious position again?
Fifteen years after bankruptcy, Six Flags is in trouble again
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is once again on shaky financial ground, with one legal expert warning that another bankruptcy may be unavoidable.
As fans may recall, Six Flags first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 13, 2009, and subsequently emerged from bankruptcy on May 3, 2010. Fifteen years later, in 2025, the North Carolina–based amusement park operator has endured a turbulent year marked by weak earnings and leadership changes.
In an August 6 press release, the company reported a staggering $100 million net loss for the second quarter of 2025, and, on the same day, announced that CEO Richard Zimmerman will step down by year’s end.
Adding to its woes, Six Flags confirmed in May that its Maryland property, Six Flags America, will close after its 2025 season, ending a 25-year run. A month later, Six Flags Great America in California revealed it could face a similar fate, with CFO Brian Witherow stating that the park may shut down after the 2027 season unless its lease is renewed.
“I don’t think they’ll be able to avoid bankruptcy at the end of the day,” attorney and partner at Los Angeles-based firm Greenberg Glusker, Jonathan Shenson, told People in September. “I think they need to almost reimagine and reinvent or almost change the whole business model.”
With more than $5 billion in debt hanging over the company, Shenson believes Six Flags’ best option is to downsize aggressively and eliminate underperforming parks. “It seems to me the most viable path forward: a very slimmed-down operation where just the flagship theme parks and the ones that do really well are the ones that remain,” he said.
Was the Cedar Fair deal a lifeline or a liability for Six Flags?
Theme park enthusiasts might remember the much-talked-about $8 billion merger between Six Flags and Cedar Fair in July 2024, a deal that was hailed as a potential game-changer for the industry. The merger promised to unite some of America’s most iconic amusement parks under one powerhouse brand. The expanded portfolio now includes beloved destinations like Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, along with newly acquired properties such as Knott’s Berry Farm, Worlds of Fun, and Cedar Point.
Shenson viewed the merger as Six Flags’ “white knight” move, a last-ditch effort to lighten its massive debt load and draw from Cedar Fair’s “more disciplined management.” Yet, he believes the merger failed to deliver the turnaround executives had hoped for. “I think it didn’t really have a meaningful impact at the end of the day,” Shenson said. “I think that a lot of the cost savings and debt reduction plans were, in part, something they hoped to achieve with the merger, and I just don’t think that they accomplished what they had set out to do.”
While the union of the two theme park giants expanded Six Flags’ reach, it may have also deepened its challenges. The company is now tasked with maintaining a larger and more complex network of properties. Some of which may face closure if performance continues to lag. Whether the merger can ultimately stabilize Six Flags’ financial standing or accelerate its decline remains an open question.
What Six Flags is doing to regain its financial footing
As financial pressures mount, Six Flags is taking steps to chart a path back to stability, and it’s calling in some high-profile allies to help. On October 21, New York City-based investment firm JANA Partners announced a new collaboration with “lifelong Six Flags fan” and NFL star Travis Kelce, along with several prominent business leaders, to “enhance shareholder value and improve the guest experience” across the company’s parks.
The partnership aims to infuse fresh vision and leadership into the struggling amusement park chain, signaling that Six Flags is serious about reinventing itself and restoring the magic that once defined its brand.
Source: People