SeaWorld Is Doing Absolutely Terribly

SeaWorld announced Wednesday that in the third quarter of 2014, income and attendance were significantly down compared this time last year. Hmm, I wonder why?

In a release to investors, SeaWorld noted that things have changed for the worse: income fell 28% from the year before (emphasis added):

• Attendance of 8.4 million versus 8.9 million in the third quarter of 2013

• Revenue of $495.8 million versus $538.4 million in the third quarter of 2013

• Adjusted EBITDA[1] of $209.1 million versus $254.4 million in the third quarter of 2013

• Net income of $87.2 million versus $120.7 million in the third quarter of 2013

They say they’re going to be “Implementing a cost savings plan that is expected to deliver approximately $50 million of annual cost savings by the end of 2015,” and will be expanding into the Middle East in 2015, so don’t worry, there will be plenty more abused whales where the last came from.

The company credit’s the decrease in revenue to a decline in attendance (duh) and notes that “negative media attention” and other competitors are impacting them:

…the decline results from a combination of factors including negative media attention in California along with a challenging competitive environment, particularly in Florida. The competitive challenges in Florida relate to significant new attraction offerings at competitor destination parks, along with a delay in the scheduled opening of one of the Company’s new rides at its Busch Gardens® Tampa park.

In case you’re more of a visual learner, Business Insider has created a helpful chart demonstrating (with arrows!) how poorly the company has done since Blackfish was released.