No Fun! SeaWorld Attempts Takeover of Cedar Point, Michigan’s Adventure
To you and me, it's a place to have fun; ride the roller coasters, eat food, and not have a care in the world. But the business of fun these days is no fun, especially if your Cedar Point. The company that owns SeaWorld is making a hostile takeover bid for Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio. Most people in Michigan know Cedar Point or another amusement facility, Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon.
The last couple of years has been tough on any business that deals in the business of having fun. Not only has business been down with less people going anywhere where they might be exposed to other people, but also hiring and keeping workers has been a struggle. This story mentions doubling pay and cutting hours to make the jobs more attractive, not to mention keeping current staff on the job.
Bloomberg reports the business deal here as SeaWorld Entertainment offering $3.4 Billion for the thirteen attractions that make up Cedar Point's holdings, including Michigan's Adventure, Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm in California. Bloomberg says SeaWorld is bullish on the near future of the leisure and entertainment industry, as the country hopefully will come out of the coronavirus pandemic soon.
Ironically, there was a SeaWorld Ohio. It closed in 2001, and the property was eventually purchased by Cedar Fair, and operated as a much smaller attraction, Wildwater Kingdom, before being shut down for good in 2016.