The City of San Diego today filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld, seeking more than $12 million in what the city claims is rent owed by the Mission Bay theme park.
SeaWorld Parks does not own the 190 acres of land upon which its first theme park sits. That property is owned by the City of San Diego, with SeaWorld operating the park on it under a 50-year lease.
SeaWorld's San Diego rent is set as a percentage of park revenue, but there was a minimum payment of $10.4 million required for the years 2020-2022. SeaWorld San Diego was closed from March through August 2020, when it reopened temporarily as a zoo. The park closed again in December 2020. During the pandemic lockdowns, SeaWorld did not make its planned lease payment, as the park was closed and bringing in no revenue. Now the city wants the company to pay $12.23 million in unpaid rent, plus interest and penalties, for that period.
In a SEC report filed in May, SeaWorld stated, "The Company deferred approximately $1.6 million of the Percentage Rent related to the year ended December 31, 2020, which was subsequently paid during the first quarter of 2021. The Company continues to defer payment of an additional $8.3 million related to the Minimum Rent for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is included in accounts payable and accrued expenses as of December 31, 2022."
The city has been negotiating with the company for payment, but in May the city council voted to authorize a lawsuit if the money was not paid.
SeaWorld declined to comment to the press about the lawsuit but said that "we have enjoyed a long relationship with the city and remain hopeful that we can resolve this matter."
For more theme park news, please sign up for Theme Park Insider's weekly newsletter.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Based off Sea Worlds response it seems they do not think they think that the city has an appetite for a court battle and will settle this for far less than they owe. TBH something like this would probably easily work in Orlando where Tourism owns all of the local politicians, but probably won't in California.