Revenues

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Revenues

4. REVENUES

Deferred revenue primarily includes revenue associated with pass products, admission or in-park products or services with a future intended use date and contract liability balances related to licensing and international agreements collected in advance of the Company satisfying its performance obligations and is expected to be recognized in future periods. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, $14.2 million and $14.5 million, respectively, is included in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets related to the long-term portion of deferred revenue, which primarily relates to the Company’s international agreement, as discussed in the following section.

The following table reflects the Company’s deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2022 and 2021:

	2022		2021
	(In thousands)
Deferred revenue, including long-term portion	$	183,772	$	169,333
Less: Deferred revenue, long-term portion, included in other liabilities		14,237		14,540
Deferred revenue, short-term portion	$	169,535	$	154,793

The Company estimates substantially all of the deferred revenue, short term portion, balance outstanding as of December 31, 2021 was recognized as revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022. For certain admission products, the Company estimated timing of redemption using average historical redemption rates.

International Agreements

The Company has previously received $10.0 million in deferred revenue which is recorded in other liabilities related to a nonrefundable payment received from a partner in connection with a project in the Middle East to provide certain services pertaining to the planning and design of SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, a marine life theme park on Yas Island (the “Middle East Project”), with funding received expected to offset internal expenses. The Middle East Project is on track with the park expected to open in 2023. The Company also receives additional funds from its partner related to agreed-upon services and reimbursements of costs incurred by the Company on behalf of the Middle East Project (the “Middle East Services Agreements”).

Revenue and expenses associated with the Middle East Project will begin to be recognized when substantially all the services have been performed which is anticipated to occur in 2023, when SeaWorld Abu Dhabi is expected to open. Revenue and expenses associated with the Middle East Services Agreements will be recognized upon completion of the respective performance obligations.

As a result of the Middle East Project, approximately $0.5 million of costs incurred by the Company are recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets as of December 31, 2022 and approximately $11.2 million, $8.4 million and $5.9 million of other related costs incurred are recorded in other assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. Separately, deferred revenue of approximately $0.6 million is recorded in deferred revenue as of December 31, 2022 and approximately $14.2 million, $12.5 million and $11.9 million of long-term deferred revenue is recorded in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, related to the Middle East Project, which includes the $10.0 million nonrefundable payment previously discussed for each period.

As a result of the Middle East Services Agreements, approximately $2.0 million of costs incurred by the Company are recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets as of December 31, 2022 and approximately $1.2 million of costs are recorded in other assets as of December 31, 2021 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Separately, deferred revenue of approximately $5.1 million is recorded in deferred revenue as of December 31, 2022 and approximately $2.0 million is recorded in other liabilities as of December 31, 2021 in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.