It was a battle of titans when last year, Sesame Workshop -- the parent company that owns Sesame Street -- filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld, the theme park company that licenses Sesame Street characters like Big Bird and Elmo out to its parks. Now, the suit has been settled, and it’s bad news for SeaWorld and Shamu -- because they owe Big Bird more than $11 million.
Sesame Workshop and SeaWorld have been working together for years, but the relationship has clearly hit a rough patch. SeaWorld runs two Sesame Place theme parks, one in California and another in Pennsylvania. And, as mentioned that also includes the presence of Sesame Street characters in other SeaWorld parks. SeaWorld pays licensing fees to use the Sesame Street characters and name, but the park had disputed paying its fees for the last couple of years.
Why Sesame Workshop Sued SeaWorld
Sesame Workshop filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging that SeaWorld owed $10 million in unpaid licensing fees. An arbitration panel had already ordered the aquatic-themed park to pay its licensing fees, but it hadn’t paid up, causing Sesame to file that suit.
SeaWorld argued that due to parks being closed due to the global pandemic and with attendance being constrained for months after, being required to pay the full licensing fees was unreasonable. According to records obtained by Florida Politics, the company believed Sesame Workshop “seized upon the pandemic to try and line its pockets.” SeaWorld had asked that the judge set aside the arbitration ruling but the judge was not convinced.
The animal theme park has been ordered to pay a $9.7 million judgment as well as 9% interest going back to January 2022, making the total bill $11.4 million. Also, they have to pay the $60K arbitration costs.
The relationship between SeaWorld and Sesame Workshop has seemed to be strained outside of the lawsuit as well. When the Philadelphia Sesame Place theme park came under fire in 2022 for what appeared to be a racially charged slight against children, the Workshop published its own statement critical of the event. Sesame Place was sued for racial discrimination shortly after for an unrelated matter.
SeaWorld Has Other Legal Issues On The Horizon
The Sesame Workshop lawsuit isn’t the only significant lawsuit that SeaWorld is currently dealing with. The San Diego location is also being sued by the city over unpaid rent for the land that the theme park sits on. In a similar situation to this recent case, SeaWorld is taking issue with paying for rent for years that the parks were closed and when attendance was greatly reduced due to the global pandemic. That lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial next year.
There's also been a lawsuit filed by a woman who has accused the United Parks & Resorts-owned park of deceptive practices for the 5% surcharge that it's added to theme park purchases since reopening from the global pandemic.
Considering that SeaWorld was looking to bolster itself by purchasing Cedar Fair and massively increasing its size, a great deal has changed. The offer to buy Cedar Fair was rejected and earlier this year the amusement park company completed a merger with Six Flags. With all of that, including the cash it has to pay Sesame Place, we'll have to wait and see what the park officials' next steps are.
