Seaworld Entertainment, Inc. (Exact Name of Registrant As Specified in Its Charter)

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 or ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File Number: 001-35883 SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) Delaware 27-1220297 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 9205 South Park Center Loop, Suite 400 Orlando, Florida 32819 (Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code) (407) 226-5011 (Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share New York Stock Exchange Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☑ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☑ No ☐ Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☑ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer ☑ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company ☐ ☐ Emerging growth company If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑ The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2017, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was $919,442,891 based upon the closing price of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, reported for such date on the New York Stock Exchange. For purposes of this computation, shares of the registrant’s common stock held by each executive officer and director and each person known to the registrant to own 10% or more of the outstanding voting power of the registrant have been excluded since such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not a determination for other purposes. The registrant had outstanding 90,336,380 shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share as of February 21, 2018. DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which statement will be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report. SEAWORLD ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No. SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 1 PART I. Item 1. Business 3 Item 1A. Risk Factors 21 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 36 Item 2. Properties 36 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 37 Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 40 PART II. Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 41 Item 6. Selected Financial Data 43 Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 45 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 64 Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 64 Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 64 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 65 Item 9B. Other Information 66 PART III. Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 66 Item 11. Executive Compensation 66 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 66 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 67 Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 67 PART IV. Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 68 Item 16. Form 10-K Summary 74 Signatures 75 Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise requires, (i) references to the “Company,” “SeaWorld,” “we,” “our” or “us” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K refer to SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, (ii) references to “Blackstone” refer to certain investment funds affiliated with The Blackstone Group L.P., (iii) references to “ABI” refer to Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated, (iv) references t o “guests” refer to our theme park visitors, (v) references to “customers” refer to any consumer of our products and services, including guests of our theme parks, (vi) references to the “TEA/AECOM Report” refer to the 2016 Theme Index: The Global Attracti ons Attendance Report, TEA/AECOM, 2017, (vii) references to the “2017 Amusement Today Annual Survey” or the “Amusement Today 2017 Golden Ticket Awards” refer to the Amusement Today 2017 Golden Ticket Awards, Vol. 21, issue 6.2 dated September 2017 and (vi ii) references to the “IBISWorld Report” refer to the IBISWorld Industry Report 71311: Amusement Parks in the US dated March 2017. Unless otherwise noted, attendance rankings included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on the TEA/AECOM Report and theme park industry statistics are based on the IBISWorld Report. SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, beliefs, business strategies, future events, business conditions, our results of operations, financial position and our business outlook, business trends and other information, may be forward-looking statements. Words such as “might,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “estimates,” “expects,” “continues,” “contemplates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “intends,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “future,” “targeted” and variations of such words or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based upon our current expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections, and various assumptions, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Our expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections will result or be achieved and actual results may vary materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. There are a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, the risks, uncertainties and factors set forth under “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the following: • complex federal and state regulations governing the treatment of animals, which can change, and claims and lawsuits and attempts to generate negative publicity associated with our

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