Busch Gardens is currently owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts Inc., the company formerly known as SeaWorld Entertainment / SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.

Quick Scoop: Who owns Busch Gardens?

  • The two Busch Gardens parks (Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia) are both owned and run by United Parks & Resorts Inc.
  • United Parks & Resorts is an American theme-park company headquartered in Orlando, Florida.
  • This company also operates the SeaWorld parks, Aquatica water parks, and other related attractions.

A (very) short ownership history

  • Originally, Busch Gardens was created and owned by Anheuser-Busch, the beer company, starting in 1959 in Tampa.
  • After Anheuser-Busch was acquired by InBev, the theme parks were sold in 2009 to private equity firm Blackstone, which organized them under SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
  • Over time, the business evolved and rebranded; today the parks sit under the United Parks & Resorts banner, which controls the Busch Gardens brand along with other park properties.

Why you sometimes hear “SeaWorld owns Busch Gardens”

You’ll still hear people say “Busch Gardens is owned by SeaWorld” because:

  • The same corporate group used the SeaWorld name for years (SeaWorld Entertainment / SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment).
  • United Parks & Resorts is essentially the latest name for that same overarching park company that includes SeaWorld and Busch Gardens properties.

Mini FAQ

  1. Is Busch Gardens still connected to the beer company?
    • No. Anheuser-Busch hasn’t owned the parks since the sale to Blackstone in 2009.
  1. How many Busch Gardens parks are there now?
    • Two active parks in the U.S.: Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.
  1. Who runs the day-to-day operations?
    • Operations are handled by United Parks & Resorts’ management teams as part of its portfolio of 12 U.S. recreational destinations.

TL;DR: If you’re wondering “who owns Busch Gardens” right now, the answer is United Parks & Resorts Inc., the same corporate family that operates SeaWorld-branded parks.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.