Feld Entertainment
In 1996-10, Irvin & Kenneth Feld Productions, Inc. changed its name to Feld Entertainment, Inc.[9] In 2001, Ken Feld began gifting shares of Feld Entertainment to his three daughters Nicole, Alana and Juliette Feld.[3] Nicole was hired into the family business in 2001 and became the first female producer of the Ringling Bros. Circus in 2004. Alana also signed on in 2003.[10]
Due to an accident in October 2003, the Siegfried & Roy show was closed at the Mirage Hotel.[7] The following June, Feld Entertainment began producing Disney Live! with a Winnie the Pooh live show in the United Kingdom.[11] Alana produced the first Doodlebops Live! in 2006.[10] In 2006, Nicole was a vice president in charge of the circus.[3] The company sold its Vienna, Virginia headquarters in May 2006 to America's Capital Partners then leased it back until 2018. In 2007, Nicole and Alana were elevated to executive vice president of the company.[10]
The company signed a 10-year agreement with Disney Live Family Entertainment for Disney on Ice, Disney Live and other Disney productions in August 2008.[7] In September, Feld also acquired the motorsports division of Live Nation, including the properties of Monster Jam (and several associated monster trucks), Supercross, Arenacross, and the IHRA. The motor sport division was renamed Feld Entertainment Motor Sports.[12] Feld Motor Sports launched its first new arena-based freestyle motocross touring production, Nuclear Cowboyz, in 2010.[13] Feld Motor Sports sold the IHRA to IRG Sports + Entertainment in 2012.[14]
Feld Entertainment and Zignia Live, management company of Arena Ciudad de Mexico and Arena Monterrey, signed a promotion agreement in April 2011 which brought various Feld productions to Zingia's managed arenas for a total of 18 weeks. Among the shows that toured Mexico was Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey which returned in May 2012 after an absence of ten years.[15]
In January 2012, the company purchased Palmetto Corporate Center, a former Siemens Corp. complex in Ellenton, Florida, and over a five-year period moved most of its operations and world headquarters, as well as its production center, to the complex.[16] Feld Entertainment also occupies a 241,457-square-foot warehouse in the Baltimore-Washington Industrial Park, Jessup, Maryland where it stores and distributes merchandise and souvenirs for its various productions.[17] In 2015, Feld Motor Sports HQ moved from Illinois to Ellenton.[18]
In March 2013, Feld agreed with Marvel Entertainment, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, to produce Marvel Universe Live!, a Marvel character-based live arena show.[19] Marketing campaign company Cimarron Group was hired in 2013 by Feld Entertainment for all media campaign for Marvel Live and other Feld shows.[20] The Cimarron Group however shut down August 2013.[21]
Juliette Feld was promoted to chief operating officer of the family-owned business in February 2016.[22] In November 2016, Feld Entertainment and Sesame Workshop announced an agreement for a new Sesame Street Live show to debut in October 2017 to replace one by VStar Entertainment Group ending in July 2017.[23][24]
Citing low attendance rates and high operating costs, Feld Entertainment announced the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would close after their final performance on May 21, 2017. The retirement of the elephants was a factor in the decreased attendance, but the company would continue operating its Center for Elephant Conservation.[25] The newly "reimagined" circus opened in Bossier City, Louisiana on September 29, 2023, but without any animal acts.[26]
In 2018, Feld Entertainment and Universal Brand Development agreed to develop multiple properties into mobile pop-up attractions.
