ORLANDO, Fla. – SeaWorld Entertainment on Wednesday released preliminary results for its second quarter, and the estimates are pretty dismal.

What You Need To Know

  • Parks were closed for majority of second quarter

  • Company expects revenue to be $18M, compared to $406M from same time in 2019

  • SeaWorld will release its full earnings report on August 10

The Orlando, Florida-based company expects to take a huge financial hit, with revenue dropping to $18 million in the quarter. That’s down from $406 million in revenue in the same quarter last year.

SeaWorld’s forecast for attendance at its parks also signals a steep decline. With all of its parks forced to close in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic, SeaWorld estimates that in the second quarter it had about 300,000 visitors. In the same period in 2019, that number was 6.2 million visitors.

“The company believes attendance levels will strengthen as it begins to re-introduce special events, interactive experiences and other in-park offerings which were temporarily suspended,” SeaWorld said Wednesday.

SeaWorld also said it had postponed to 2021 "the opening of rides that were still under construction and originally scheduled to open in 2020." Although SeaWorld didn't specify which rides, both the Ice Breaker coaster at SeaWorld Orlando and the Iron Gwazi coaster at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay were slated to open this year. 

No updates as of yet have been given regarding those attractions. 

Despite the expected losses, there were a few bright spots in the report: In-park per capita spending is expected to increase 10 percent, as is the overall number of annual passholders for the parks that have since reopened. Also, 2021 bookings for SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove were listed as “strong,” outpacing the prior year.

The results released Wednesday are preliminary, with SeaWorld set to reveal a complete earnings report on August 10.

SeaWorld began reopening its parks in June, starting with its Aquatica park in Texas on June 6. The company then opened its five Florida parks, including SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa on June 11. 

Its parks was among the first theme parks to reopen amid the pandemic. The company rolled out a number of new health and safety measures at the parks, including face mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing protocols, reduced park capacity and increased sanitization.

The company is still waiting to see when it can reopen its park in California.