RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS REPORTS RECORD YEAR

Atlanta Business Chronical

The recession is refusing to enter the three rings of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, should know. His late father, Irvin Feld, first got involved with the circus in 1957, and bought it in 1967.

“In times like this, people want an escape,” Feld said in a recent trip to Atlanta. “We have been the ultimate escape for people in this country for 100 years. In the depression, they did a huge business.”

Feld Entertainment, a wholly family-owned business, doesn’t just own Ringling Bros. It also owns Disney on Ice, Disney Live, and as of last year, it owns Motor Sports, which puts on Monster Jams around the country.

“We are the premier company in the world producing live family entertainment,” Feld said. “In all we do 3,800 events in 59 countries a year. There are more than 10 performances of Feld Entertainment a day.”

In Atlanta and Georgia, Feld said, more than 550,000 people attend a Feld production every year. Three years ago, the Gwinnett Arena began hosting the circus’ gold unit (which plays in smaller venues) in addition to the annual performances at Philips.

“For us, Atlanta is one of the best family entertainment markets in the country,” Feld said. While he didn’t have the latest specific numbers for circus sales when he was here last month, Feld said attendance is up nationally. Monster Jam’s business is up 18 percent from last year, and the circus business is up 12 percent.

“It’s the biggest year we’ve ever had,” Feld said. In most markets, the advance ticket sales are flat, Feld said. But the walk-up business is growing, partly because of strategic discounts offered in the various markets. “We keep it affordable,” Feld said. “People want value. In this environment, where everybody is cutting back, we never do anything to diminish our product.”

Just about every aspect of Feld Entertainment is unusual. It has the largest privately owned train the country. It owns more portable ice floors than any other entity in the world.

Although controversial among animal rights groups, it has the largest herd of Asian elephants in the Western Hemisphere. And through its Center for Elephant Conservation, it does medical research. “We’ve had 21 successful births [of Asian elephants],” Feld said proudly.
Feld, 60, said he literally grew up in the entertainment world.

“It was decided I would go into the business when I was 4 [years old],” said Feld, who calls Tampa, Fla., home. “I never consider that I go to work. It’s a way of life. Every day I go to play.”
The business now is welcoming the third generation of the Feld family. Two of Feld’s three daughters are in the business; and his third daughter is in the MBA program at Emory University.

“I did not want to pressure them [to go into the business],” Feld said He has told his daughters that they can’t work for the company until they have worked someplace else for two years.
And yet it’s obvious that Feld takes great pride that the third generation is taking an interest in the company.

“It’s still a family business, and the family owns 100 percent of the business,” Feld said. “We have this unique niche that’s worldwide, that brings unbelievable spectacles to your doorstep.”

Courtesy of Mark Rosenthal