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Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce is running a new play, joining an activist investor to push for changes at the financially struggling Charlotte-based amusement park company Six Flags Entertainment Corp. New York City-based JANA Partners and the Super Bowl champion, along with consumer executive Glenn Murphy and technology executive Dave Habiger, collectively own a 9% stake in the company, the investment group announced Tuesday. JANA Managing Partner Scott Ostfeld disclosed the investment at the 13D Monitor Active-Passive Investor Summit in New York City. Combined, they become one of the largest Six Flags shareholders. Six Flags reported a net loss of $100 million in its second quarter, with officials citing bad weather, including hurricanes and heat as a contributing factors. JANA did not say what type of changes it is seeking. Company officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Six Flags is North America’s largest regional amusement-resort operator with 27 amusement parks, 15 water parks and nine resort properties across 17 states in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. That includes Cedar Point amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio, not too far from where Kelce grew up in suburban Cleveland. “So many memories of this place,” Kelce said on his Instagram account, referring to Cedar Point. “Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to continue the tradition and make Cedar Point and Six Flags even more special for the next generation of families!” “So crazy to even imagine this is real, but you gotta love it when life comes full circle,” Kelce said on the post. JANA said it plans to engage Six Flags’ board of directors and management for “opportunities to enhance shareholder value and improve the guest experience.” Six Flags is initiating steps to increase attendance, enhance guest experience and drive profitable growth, the company said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer Tuesday night. The company did not elaborate on what those steps would be. “We appreciate the perspectives of shareholders and take their feedback seriously,” Six Flags said. JANA Partners was founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein. JANA invests in undervalued public companies and engages with management teams and boards to unlock value for shareholders, according to the firm. Six Flags’ struggles In August, Six Flags CEO and President Richard Zimmerman announced he was stepping down by the end of the year amid significant revenue losses and a slump in attendance at its amusement parks. Zimmerman has been CEO of Six Flags since its $8-billion merger last year with Carowinds’ longtime owner, Cedar Fair. Zimmerman was Cedar Fair’s CEO at the time. Six Flags has not announced his replacement. Revenue in the second quarter increased to $930 million, compared to $572 million for the same period last year, due to newly merged Six Flags operations.
