Past Park Ownership

[ControlsEE]

The quality, however, would likely increase. Bgw has been on a downward spiral since seas purchased them from AB, both in food and ride quality (ride quality being theming)

SEAS didn't purchase the BEC parks... BEC became SEAS through the Inbev-Merger, then sale to Blackstone, then the IPO. Everything after the IPO was SEAS and it has been downhill ever since. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Inbev for the AB takeover, which got the turd ball rolling in the first place. Festa may still be in clown shirts if it wasn't for Inbev... lol

 

[halfabee]

SEAS didn't purchase the BEC parks... BEC became SEAS through the Inbev-Merger, then sale to Blackstone, then the IPO. Everything after the IPO was SEAS and it has been downhill ever since. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Inbev for the AB takeover, which got the turd ball rolling in the first place. Festa may still be in clown shirts if it wasn't for Inbev... lol

I blame AB for the AB takeover, not InBev.

 

[Jonesta6]

August Busch IV, specifically for the AB downfall...

 

[halfabee]

Yes, though ABIV wasn’t the one who made the mistake of putting ABIV at the head of the company in the first place, nor was he the one who missed opportunities to make AB a more takeover-resistant global player in the years prior to his ascendancy. AB’s road to hell was, to some degree, paved before ABIV was handed the keys to the family car.

But yeah, he was still the guy who broke the company’s back. A shame.

 

[Jonesta6]

I mean, at least from the family biography, it seemed very much like III was a good businessman and steward of the company even if he deferred from how Gussie ran it, his problem was that while his other sons actually did the work to take his place and could have arguably kept it in the family he decided to pass it down to IV based on his name from what it appears.

 

[Rothbury]

I can go back to the beginning with AB IV. When BGW opened in 1975 it was a playground to him. He was 11 years old. I knew his BGW escort and how much money AB IV and his sister were pissing away on anything and everything. AB III and AB IV NEVER carried money into BGW. It was always on an expense account. Stayed that way until AB IV went off to college. At that point AB IV lost interest and AB III stopped funding BGW. It stayed in the company until InBev took over. InBev didn't want anything to do with BGW and couldn't dump it soon enough as far as they were concerned. At that point it was losing money and InBev didn't want anything that couldn't make money. Seems like it has been downhill ever since.

 

[Alf33]

InBev didn't want anything to do with BGW and couldn't dump it soon enough as far as they were concerned. At that point it was losing money and InBev didn't want anything that couldn't make money. Seems like it has been downhill ever since.

This has pretty much always been InBev's philosophy of getting rid of any business's that are part of who they acquire that are not a producer of alcohol. They are also big into eliminating redundancies and eliminating what they feel is waste. They do whatever they can to increase profit, which is every companies job but they can be ruthless about it from what I've heard.

 

[Jonesta6]

I can go back to the beginning with AB IV. When BGW opened in 1975 it was a playground to him. He was 11 years old. I knew his BGW escort and how much money AB IV and his sister were pissing away on anything and everything. AB III and AB IV NEVER carried money into BGW. It was always on an expense account. Stayed that way until AB IV went off to college. At that point AB IV lost interest and AB III stopped funding BGW. It stayed in the company until InBev took over. InBev didn't want anything to do with BGW and couldn't dump it soon enough as far as they were concerned. At that point it was losing money and InBev didn't want anything that couldn't make money. Seems like it has been downhill ever since.

That makes sense and is fascinating - again, since my source is a book and not personal experience, I thought Tampa would be the family's stomping grounds since Gussie had the Festhaus built there as a gift to his wife.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

I know that The Old Swiss House that was built for his wife, but I’m not sure about the Festhaus. OSH was a fancy Swiss restaurant, based on a restaurant of the same name in Switzerland. Gussie Busch’s wife was the daughter of the proprietors of the original OSH. That building at Busch Gardens Tampa is now called Serengeti Outlook.

Even if it was the OSH that was built for his wife, your point about Tampa as the family’s stomping grounds still makes sense. I don’t know where their stomping grounds were, but I’ve always wondered about that. I’ve heard that August Busch III went to both Busch Gardens Tampa and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and told their employees: “This is my favorite park,” which usually led to a guilt trip about how the park was not meeting his standards.

 

[EdK]

I'm sure some of the blame goes to AB but my understanding is they fought hard to prevent the takeover. It seems the real problem was the devaluation of the dollar at the time (I remember the Euro exchange rate was close to 2:1). This was like buying AB for half the price. Interest rates were super low which made borrowing money for the hostile takeover even easier. The offer was too good to pass up and the shareholders approved the deal. The government could have stepped in to prevent the sale using antitrust laws but Bush was president and that wasn't happening. My understanding is the takeover also hurt the local plant since they cut shifts and personal after the takeover.

 

[warfelg]

I'm sure some of the blame goes to AB but my understanding is they fought hard to prevent the takeover. It seems the real problem was the devaluation of the dollar at the time (I remember the Euro exchange rate was close to 2:1). This was like buying AB for half the price. Interest rates were super low which made borrowing money for the hostile takeover even easier. The offer was too good to pass up and the shareholders approved the deal. The government could have stepped in to prevent the sale using antitrust laws but Bush was president and that wasn't happening. My understanding is the takeover also hurt the local plant since they cut shifts and personal after the takeover.

European takeovers of American brands was big at that time too.

It's also the issue with public companies where the majority holder is less than a majority of the company. Makes is nearly impossible to keep away from hostile takeovers. Inbev and MillerCoors has really ruined mass produced beers for the world. Yungling is one of the few that truly care about QC and Employee Happiness anymore.

Really wish AB did what Hershey and HERCO did in splitting the company to make things like this much harder to do.

 

[kmccarthy27]

Really wish AB did what Hershey and HERCO did in splitting the company to make things like this much harder to do.

Not to mention the fact that if Hershey would get sold they would lose half their product lines as there are clauses in the contract with Nestle (Kit Kat, Rolo, etc...) and Cadbury that if they are sold those contracts get cancelled. Hershey (or the trust) may have put those clauses in the contracts just to make sure that a sale does not happen.

 

[warfelg]

Not to mention the fact that if Hershey would get sold they would lose half their product lines as there are clauses in the contract with Nestle (Kit Kat, Rolo, etc...) and Cadbury that if they are sold those contracts get cancelled. Hershey (or the trust) may have put those clauses in the contracts just to make sure that a sale does not happen.

Hershey (IMO) really watched out for themselves better than AB did (again IMO) in protecting all their assets. Not just the park, but arenas, stadiums, schools, the town as a whole.

 

[Jonesta6]

I'm sure some of the blame goes to AB but my understanding is they fought hard to prevent the takeover. It seems the real problem was the devaluation of the dollar at the time (I remember the Euro exchange rate was close to 2:1). This was like buying AB for half the price. Interest rates were super low which made borrowing money for the hostile takeover even easier. The offer was too good to pass up and the shareholders approved the deal. The government could have stepped in to prevent the sale using antitrust laws but Bush was president and that wasn't happening. My understanding is the takeover also hurt the local plant since they cut shifts and personal after the takeover.

I think the biography addressed that - basically IV did (or didn't) do a few things that made it practically impossible for the company to reject a sound takeover bid should one arise... Which obviously did.

 

[EdK]

I think the biography addressed that - basically IV did (or didn't) do a few things that made it practically impossible for the company to reject a sound takeover bid should one arise... Which obviously did.

I'll have to check out the biography.

 

[EdK]

European takeovers of American brands was big at that time too.

It's also the issue with public companies where the majority holder is less than a majority of the company. Makes is nearly impossible to keep away from hostile takeovers. Inbev and MillerCoors has really ruined mass produced beers for the world. Yungling is one of the few that truly care about QC and Employee Happiness anymore.

Really wish AB did what Hershey and HERCO did in splitting the company to make things like this much harder to do.

What Inbev did to mass produced beer is sort of what SEAS has done to BGW

The writing was on the wall in some respects with the relaxation of brewing laws in states and the rise of craft beers across the country. Plus beer consumption has decreased as well. Before BGW was bought out I remember they had samples of new products from AB in the Octoberfest beer room meant to compete with the craft beer scene. I remember some of the samples were really good and they would pair the beer with different types of food (cheese, chocolate). It makes me wonder if AB wasn't bought out if they could've competed in the craft beer scene.

 

[kmccarthy27]

What Inbev did to mass produced beer is sort of what SEAS has done to BGW

The writing was on the wall in some respects with the relaxation of brewing laws in states and the rise of craft beers across the country. Plus beer consumption has decreased as well. Before BGW was bought out I remember they had samples of new products from AB in the Octoberfest beer room meant to compete with the craft beer scene. I remember some of the samples were really good and they would pair the beer with different types of food (cheese, chocolate). It makes me wonder if AB wasn't bought out if they could've competed in the craft beer scene.

They tried to around that time. Pre Ultra they used Michelob as a testing bed for craft type beers. One of which I loved was Spring Heat Spiced Wheat which got reformulated and became Shock Top. There also some boxer themed porter I remember at the park. They also did Samplers like Sam Adams did.

An example press release:

Michelob Wheat Beer Sampler Pack

Michelob Brewing Co. returns again this year with a sampler pack featuring four wheat beers for the spring and summer seasons, featuring the newest beer by the brewer -- Michelob Ginger Wheat.

www.csnews.com

 

[tursiops]

Bare Knuckle Stout was their very respectable Guinness knockoff.

 

[willrobs3]

They tried to around that time. Pre Ultra they used Michelob as a testing bed for craft type beers. One of which I loved was Spring Heat Spiced Wheat which got reformulated and became Shock Top. There also some boxer themed porter I remember at the park. They also did Samplers like Sam Adams did.

An example press release:

Michelob Wheat Beer Sampler Pack

Michelob Brewing Co. returns again this year with a sampler pack featuring four wheat beers for the spring and summer seasons, featuring the newest beer by the brewer -- Michelob Ginger Wheat.

www.csnews.com

Back in the day I used to do a lot of focus groups, one day I got the chance to do a focus group for Anheuser Busch. The focus group was hosted in Grogan's Pub and one of the beers that we were 'testing' ended up becoming Budweiser Select.