The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1871–2017
Ringling Bros. closed the circus after 146 years once the elephants left
Feld Entertainment announced on 14 January 2017 that Ringling Bros. would end its 146-year run; the final show played 21 May 2017 at Nassau Coliseum.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus · Feld Entertainment · 2017-05
What happened
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey — the circus built from P.T. Barnum's show and five Ringling brothers' touring act, bought by the Feld family in 1967 — had been performing across America for 146 years by 2017. Feld Entertainment ran it alongside Monster Jam and other arena spectacles, but the circus's attendance had been sliding for years while the costs of moving a travelling big-top show by rail stayed high.
The breaking point was the elephants. After a 14-year legal fight with animal-rights groups and city ordinances restricting animal acts, Feld retired the elephants from the show in May 2016, two years ahead of plan. Ticket sales, already falling, dropped sharply without them. On 14 January 2017 Feld announced the circus would close after 30 final performances.
The two touring shows played out their last dates: 'Circus XTREME' ended on 7 May in Providence, Rhode Island, and the final performance ran on 21 May 2017 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. 'The competitor in many ways is time,' chief executive Kenneth Feld said. Feld kept the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation running and pointed the company at its other lines of live entertainment.
Why it happened
- Ticket sales had been declining for years and fell sharply after the elephants were retired in May 2016.
- Rail-based touring carried high fixed operating costs that shrinking attendance could not cover at an affordable ticket price.
- Fourteen years of animal-rights litigation and city restrictions on animal acts made the traditional format a liability.
The lesson
Ringling retired its elephants in 2016 to save the show; sales collapsed instead. A year later Feld closed the 146-year-old circus — touring cost more than the seats could pay.
Aftermath
Feld Entertainment continued its other live shows and kept the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation operating.
Sources
- USA Today, 14 January 2017 — Ringling Bros. circus to close after 146 years (Feld Entertainment announced 14 January 2017 the circus would end its 146-year run in May 2017; ticket sales had been falling and dropped significantly after the elephants' retirement in May 2016; high operating costs made the touring model unsustainable at affordable ticket prices; 14-year litigation with animal rights groups; final performances 7 May 2017 Dunkin' Donuts Center Providence and 21 May 2017 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Uniondale NY; Kenneth Feld quote 'The competitor in many ways is time'; Feld family purchased the circus in 1967; Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation founded 1995 would continue)
- Wikipedia — Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Feld Entertainment announced January 2017 the circus would close after 30 additional performances; reasons declining ticket sales associated with the loss of the elephants, high operating costs and animal cruelty concerns; elephants retired May 2016, accelerated from a 2018 plan over local bullhook laws; final performance 21 May 2017 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York; 146-year history dating to P.T. Barnum's show; Feld family purchased the circus in late 1967)
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
More like this
Cirque du Soleil tried vaudeville — Banana Shpeel closed two months early
Condé Nast cut Glamour to a skeleton crew a year shy of its centennial
BENlabs, Bill Gates' product placement firm, wound down after a failed AI pivot
Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →
Comments · 0
Sign in to join the comments.