Six Flags headquarters may be headed for N Y C

Thursday, January 12th 2006, 11:28 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Theme park operator Six Flags Inc. will open an entertainment and marketing department in New York, and some analysts say this is another indication that the company will eventually move its headquarters out of Oklahoma City.

The company, which announced the opening of the new department Wednesday, has operated dual headquarters for more than a decade with two of the top three executives based in New York. Departments such as human resources and accounting are in Oklahoma City.

Six Flags has 37 employees at its corporate offices in Oklahoma City and 40 more at the theme parks Frontier City and White Water Bay.

The company was taken over last month by Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder. Former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro is the new chief executive officer.

Six Flags spokeswoman Debbie Nauser said no decision has been made regarding the Oklahoma City office.

``From a pure business, entertainment and marketing standpoint, for a company as nationally branded as Six Flags is, you need to be in New York,'' said Dennis Speigel, an industry observer who operates Ohio-based International Theme Park Services.