It's been a rollercoaster for Six Flags

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report – “It's been a rollercoaster for Six Flags”

Date: November 27, 2025
Host: David Brancaccio
Notable Contributors: Savannah Peters, Daniel Ackerman, Chris Farrell

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Episode Overview

This episode provides a brisk yet insightful look into recent economic and business developments with three major stories:

• The recent upheaval and cautious reinstatement of the CDFI Fund (Community Development Financial Institutions Fund)
• The challenges facing the iconic theme park chain Six Flags as it appoints a new CEO and contends with shifting market dynamics
• A personal story highlighting Social Security’s impact on a caregiving grandmother for its 90th anniversary

Throughout, the tone is conversational, informative, and attentive to both macro trends and personal impact stories.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. CDFI Fund: Reversals and Uncertainty

[Timestamps: 00:55–02:40]

• What Happened?
  The recent government deal reversed earlier mass firings—including those at the CDFI Fund, which supports lending in underserved areas. However, uncertainty remains as staff are only reinstated through a provisional deadline (January 30).
• Importance of CDFI:
  • Awards grants to local banks and lenders to drive investment in underserved places.
  • CDFI branding helps attract private capital to these communities.
  • Quote:
    • Michael Swack (University of New Hampshire): “The Trump administration’s move to effectively eliminate the CDFI fund was met with rare bipartisan pushback.” (01:37)
  • Both red and blue districts have benefited, creating rare political consensus.
• Cautious Future:
  With ongoing budget uncertainty, lenders may pull back or diversify away from federal support.
  • Quote:
    • Pete Upton, Native CDFI Network: “Some of the institutions he works with are lending more conservatively as they wait for grant funding held up by the shutdown or anticipate more cuts…” (02:21)

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2. Six Flags: A Turbulent Ride and New Leadership

[Timestamps: 02:40–05:05]

• Current Troubles:
  Six Flags is preparing for a new CEO, facing diminished attendance and revenue. External factors like weather (extreme heat, rain, hurricanes) negatively affected business this year.
• Leadership Turbulence:
  • Guest expert Dennis Spiegel (International Theme Park Services and lifelong theme park enthusiast) highlights a decade of turnover:
    • Quote:
      • “There’s really been a ship at sea without a captain for over 10 years. They've moved through quite a few CEOs.” (03:33)
  • Inconsistent pricing and marketing have hurt the brand.
• Market and Celebrity Buzz:
  • Stock prices showed a positive response to the CEO news.
  • NFL star and Taylor Swift fiancé Travis Kelce became a new investor, delivering positive PR.
    • Quote:
      • Martin Lewison (Farmingdale State College): “I don't know if he can save Six Flags, but he certainly created a lot of buzz and good press.” (04:01)
• Changing Theme Park Landscape:
  • There's continued value in affordable entertainment, countering the digital pull:
    • Quote:
      • “People like to be outdoors. People like to get thrown around on rides.” (04:20)
  • Theme parks adapt with live events (like pop-up concerts) to attract repeat business.
    • Chris Waranka, Deutsche Bank: “If you bring in different performers, that makes the parks different every week.” (04:31)
• Value Amid High Prices:
  • Analyst Arpine Kocharyan (UBS): “They’re less expensive, they’re closer to home.” (04:53)
  • Lighthearted closer: “What could possibly beat a plate of cheese fries followed by a series of violent loop de loops?” (Daniel Ackerman, 04:56)

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3. Social Security Turns 90: A Grandmother's Story

[Timestamps: 07:24–09:44]

• Personal Story:
  • Gail Engel in Colorado stepped in to care for her grandson Bryson following her daughter's struggles with mental illness.
  • Bryson faced additional challenges including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and autism.
• Role of Social Security:
  • Gail had to stop working due to disability and received $940/month in Social Security benefits, plus $580/month in child benefits after adopting Bryson.
    • Quote:
      • “Once I adopted him because I was disabled, I was able to get a child benefit...over $580 a month. So, yes, the financial support was very beneficial.” (08:55)
• Looking Ahead:
  • Now, Gail and her husband can enjoy camping, and Bryson, now 19, has landed a job at a metal manufacturing company.
  • The story reinforces how Social Security enables stability and support across generations.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On CDFI Fund Bipartisanship:
  “The CDFI fund was met with rare bipartisan pushback in Congress.”
  — Savannah Peters (01:37)

• Theme Park Industry’s Year:
  “We had extreme heat in the Southwest, we had wetness up in the Northeast. We had hurricanes on the East Coast.”
  — Dennis Spiegel (03:21)

• Leadership Drift at Six Flags:
  “There’s really been a ship at sea without a captain for over 10 years. They've moved through quite a few CEOs.”
  — Dennis Spiegel (03:33)

• Celebrity Investor Effect:
  “I don't know if he can save Six Flags, but he certainly created a lot of buzz and good press.”
  — Martin Lewison (04:01)

• Affordable Entertainment:
  “They’re less expensive, they’re closer to home.”
  — Arpine Kocharyan (04:53)

• Social Security Support:
  “Once I adopted him because I was disabled, I was able to get a child benefit...over $580 a month. So, yes, the financial support was very beneficial.”
  — Gail Engel (08:55)

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Segment Timestamps

• CDFI Fund Reinstatement & Uncertainty: 00:55–02:40
• Six Flags CEO, Struggles, and Celebrity Investment: 02:40–05:05
• Social Security 90th Anniversary Feature: 07:24–09:44

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Tone & Style Observations

• The episode moves quickly yet covers each story with enough context for new listeners.
• The host and contributors maintain an easygoing, approachable tone, balanced with serious reporting.
• Personal voices—especially in the Social Security segment—add warmth and relatability.
• Quotes and soundbites maintain speakers’ original phrasings, contributing to an authentic listening experience.

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Useful For:
Anyone wanting a concise, engaging update on U.S. business and social issues—from federal funding volatility, to how America’s theme parks are adapting, to the lived reality behind Social Security’s safety net.

Transcript

[David Brancaccio]

This Marketplace podcast is supported by Wealth Enhancement, who ask do you have a blueprint for your money? Wealth Enhancement can help you build the right blueprint for investing, retirement, tax and more. With offices nationwide, there's an advisor who's ready to listen and craft a blueprint for your future. Find out [e-mail] Build this Podcast is supported by Odoo. Some say Odoo business management software is like fertilizer for businesses because the simple, efficient software promotes. Others say Odoo is like a magic beanstalk because it scales with you and is magically affordable. And some describe Odoo's programs for manufacturing, accounting and more as building blocks for creating a custom software suite. So Odoo is Fertilizer Magic Beanstalk building blocks for business Odoo exactly what businesses need. Sign [e-mail] that's o d o o.com.

The many who give thanks today to Social Security I'm David Brancaccio in Los Angeles. Happy Thanksgiving. First deal to reopen the federal government earlier this month reversed mass firings of thousands of federal workers that included staff at the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Marketplaces. Savannah Peters has that.

[Savannah Peters]

The CDFI Fund awards grants to banks, credit unions and loan funds that work in underserved parts of the country, and the CDFI brand helps those lenders raise private capital.

[David Brancaccio]

A relatively small investment of the public sector leverages significant funds from the private sector.

[Savannah Peters]

Michael Swack directs the University of New Hampshire's center for Impact Finance. He says the Trump administration's move to effectively eliminate the CDFI fund was met with rare bipartisan pushback in Congress.

[David Brancaccio]

CDFI Fund has supported small business and affordable housing lending in districts blue and red, and a number of red states have benefited.

[Savannah Peters]

The CDFI Fund staff has been reinstated at least through Congress's January 30 deadline to pass a budget, but lenders fear the fund may be on shaky ground. Some are strategizing to lean less on federal support.

[David Brancaccio]

This was a great wake up call.

[Dell Technologies Advertiser]

That we're going to have to diversify.

[Savannah Peters]

Pete Upton, CEO of the Native CDFI Network, says some of the institutions he works with are lending more conservatively as they wait for grant funding held up by the shutdown or anticipate more cuts to CDFI funding and services. I'm Savannah Peters for Marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

Six Flags is getting a new CEO next month. The theme park chain is struggling for visitors and dollars. Reporter Daniel Ackerman has that.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Dennis Spiegel loves theme parks.

[David Brancaccio]

As a kid, I was a ticket taker at Coney island in Cincinnati, Ohio. Not to be confused with New York.

[Daniel Ackerman]

That was 50 years ago and he still hasn't left the industry. When was the last time you have been upside down on a theme park ride?

[David Brancaccio]

Oh, probably about a week ago just.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Doing some high adrenaline research for his current job as a consultant with International Theme Park Services. And Spiegel says this year was tough for parks. Some reasons were out of their control.

[David Brancaccio]

We had extreme heat in the Southwest, we had wetness up in the Northeast. We had hurricanes on the East Coast.

[Daniel Ackerman]

But Spiegel says Six Flags has also faced problems of its own making.

[David Brancaccio]

There's really been a ship at sea without a captain for over 10 years. They've moved through quite a few CEOs.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Which he says has led to a lack of continuity in pricing and marketing. Six Flags stock price responded well to the new CEO announcement. John Riley is a veteran park operator, but the company could get a boost from another name. Football star and Taylor Swift fiance Travis Kelsey recently announced he's investing in the company.

[David Brancaccio]

I don't know if he can save Six Flags, but he certainly created a lot of buzz and good press.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Martin Lewison is a professor of business management at Farmingdale State College and a Six Flags investor. And he says in an era when so many kids are glued to their phones and theme parks offer a decent value proposition.

[David Brancaccio]

People like to be outdoors, people like to get thrown around on rides.

[Daniel Ackerman]

And for those who don't, some theme parks have had success leaning into live events, says Chris Waranka, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

[David Brancaccio]

Things like pop up concerts, these aren't gonna become concert venues per se. But if you bring in different performers, that makes the parks different every week.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Which could draw repeat customers. And as consumers feel the squeeze of higher prices everywhere they look, a local theme park might become preferable to a splurgy weekend trip, says Arpine Kocharyan, an analyst with ubs.

[Gail Engel]

They're less expensive, they're closer to home.

[Daniel Ackerman]

Plus, what could possibly beat a plate of cheese fries followed by a series of violent loop de loops? I'm Daniel ackerman for marketplace.

[David Brancaccio]

U.S. markets are closed for the holiday here because capital markets never really sleep. They will reopen tomorrow for a shortened trading day.

[Dell Technologies Advertiser]

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[David Brancaccio]

90Th birthday of Social Security, we're meeting people who rely on the monthly payments. Marketplace's senior Economics contributor Chris Farrell has our latest installment.

About a decade ago, Gail Engel in Loveland, Colorado, realized her grandson needed some help. Her daughter, who was in her 20s at the time, was overwhelmed by mental illness and couldn't take care of her children.

[Gail Engel]

She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 16, 17 years old, and so she struggled trying to get into her adulthood.

[David Brancaccio]

Gail's grandson, Bryson, was having an especially hard time.

[Gail Engel]

Come to find out he has fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. From her drinking during that time she was pregnant.

[David Brancaccio]

He was also diagnosed with autism. Back then, Bryson was spending much of his time at his grandmother Gail's home. So in 2014, when Bryson was nine.

[Gail Engel]

Years old, we decided the best thing to do was to adopt him. And we did.

[David Brancaccio]

Gail was receiving disability benefits at the time, about $940 a month from Social Security. Her health had deteriorated significantly in her late 50s, including chronic back and neck pain and rheumatoid arthritis, so she had to stop working as a bookkeeper.

[Gail Engel]

I knew that I just couldn't function anymore, along with the stress of raising my grandson, it was necessary.

[David Brancaccio]

The good news was that through Social Security, she could also get a monthly check to help care for Bryson, her dependent.

[Gail Engel]

Once I adopted him because I was disabled, I was able to get a child benefit which was over $580 a month. So, yes, the financial support was very beneficial. And if I had not have adopted him, I would not have had that resource.

[David Brancaccio]

Bryson is now grown up. He's 19, and he still lives with them. Gail and her husband Joe now have more time to pursue their passion camping. They own a motorhome.

[Gail Engel]

I love to cook, and so I had to have a big kitchen. So for a camper, it's pretty good size.

[David Brancaccio]

Bryson can't always come on their camping adventures, but he's doing well. He recently landed a job at a metal manufacturing company. I'm Chris Farrell from Marketplace, and in.

Los Angeles, I'm David Brancaccio. You're listening to the Marketplace Morning report from apm, American Public Media.

[Amy Scott]

Imagine a future where chocolate and coffee are rare and expensive, where cheap nutritional staples like corn and wheat are threatened. Sounds unpleasant, doesn't it? Well, we could be heading there if we don't recognize that the climate crisis is also a food crisis.

[David Brancaccio]

I've seen yields drop because of drought.

And believe me, boy, have I seen them drop.

[Gail Engel]

We have had dry spells that have lasted years.

[Amy Scott]

I'm Amy Scott. This season on How We Survive. We investigate how the climate crisis is threatening our most vital food systems and how scientists are racing to develop alternatives that will shape the future of food. Food. Listen to this season of How We Survive on your favorite podcast. Apparently.