Ringling Bros. Circus, ‘The Greatest Show on Earth,’ to Close After 146 Years

From: NBC News

Ringling Bros. and Barnum &Bailey performers ride camels during a performance
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, in Orlando, Fla.
Chris O'Meara / AP

 "The Greatest Show on Earth" is coming to a close. After a 146-year run, the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus said the show will end for good in May.

The decision comes after declining ticket sales and the end of live elephant shows during performances, an act which became the subject of prolonged and costly battles with animal rights groups.

"Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop," Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment which owns the circus, said in a statement Saturday night.

.@RinglingBros will hold its final performances in May of this year. Details: https://t.co/Z4iQLxI0Sh #RinglingBros

— Ringling Bros. (@RinglingBros) January 15, 2017

The Associated Press first reported that the iconic circus would close. Feld told the news organization that there wasn't one factor that spelled the end for the circus, but he said entertainment tastes have changed.

"The competitor in many ways is time," Feld told the AP, acknowledging that transporting the show by rail and other circus quirks — such as providing a traveling school for performers' children— are throwbacks to another era.

Since 1967 when the Feld family bought the circus, the show went from just under 3 hours to 2 hours and 7 minutes. The show's second-longest performance — a tiger act — is 12 minutes long.

"Try getting a 3- or 4-year-old today to sit for 12 minutes," Feld said.

This file photo taken on March 19, 2015 shows a circus performer hanging upside down
 during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance in Washington, DC.
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP - Getty Images

Ringling Bros. has two touring circuses this season and will perform 30 shows between now and May. Major stops include Atlanta, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Brooklyn. The final shows will be in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 7 and in Uniondale, New York, at the Nassau County Coliseum on May 21.

Former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said online that he was saddened by the news and "thanks for the memories." Others welcomed the move, citing the use of live animals in performances.

The show's roots go back to 1841, when Phineas Taylor Barnum bought Scudder's American Museum in New York City and renamed it Barnum's American Museum. Barnum also took his show on the road as "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling American Museum."

It became Barnum's "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United," in 1881, which was later shortened to the "Barnum & London Circus." Barnum's and the Ringling Brothers circuses merged in 1919.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in March of 2015 said it would phase out its live elephant acts by 2018, but did so early and retired the animals in May of 2016. The elephants went to a Ringling Bros. center for elephant conservation in Florida.

The decision to end the live elephant acts — a symbol of the circus — was made after a lengthy legal battle with animal rights groups.

In this July 19, 1978 file photo,
actor Charlton Heston is shown with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
 clown Prince Paul during the City of Hope's Celebrity Circus opening in Inglewood, Calif.
Mclendon / AP

Feld Entertainment in 2014 won $25.2 million in settlements from several groups including the Humane Society of the United States, ending a 14-year fight over allegations that circus employees mistreated elephants. The company had sued the organizations alleging malicious prosecution.

Juliette Feld, Feld's daughter and the chief operating officer of the company, told the AP there was a "dramatic drop" in already declining tickets sales after the elephants left.

"We know now that one of the major reasons people came to Ringling Bros. was getting to see elephants," she said. "We stand by that decision. We know it was the right decision. This was what audiences wanted to see and it definitely played a major role."

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claimed victory soon after the announcement that the circus was closing was made.

"After 36 years of PETA protests, which have awoken the world to the plight of animals in captivity, PETA heralds the end of what has been the saddest show on earth for wild animals, and asks all other animal circuses to follow suit, as this is a sign of changing times," the animal rights group said in a statement.

Humane Society of the United States President and CEO Wayne Pacelle acknowledged that "Ringling Bros. has changed a great deal over a century and a half," but he said it wasn't fast enough, and called using live animals to perform stunts unacceptable in today's environment.

"I know this is bittersweet for the Feld family, but I applaud their decision to move away from an institution grounded on inherently inhumane wild animal acts," Pacelle said.

NBA star Shaquille O'Neal was among those who appeared upset over the announcement that the circus will end, expressing his dismay on Twitter.

Famed Ringling Bros. circus closing - CNN noooooo pls don't close whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy nooooooooo noooooooooo https://t.co/rJejMBf5ej

— SHAQ (@SHAQ) January 15, 2017

The Felds told the AP their existing animals — lions, tigers, camels, donkeys, alpacas, kangaroos and llamas — will go to suitable homes. Juliette Feld says the company will continue operating the Center for Elephant Conservation.

Some 500 people perform and work on both touring shows. A handful will be placed in positions with the company's other, profitable shows — it owns Monster Jam, Disney on Ice and Marvel Live, among other things — but most will be out of a job, the AP reported.

Juliette Feld said the company will help employees with job placement and resumes. In some cases where a circus employee lives on the tour rail car (the circus travels by train), the company will also help with housing relocation.

This file photo taken on March 26, 2010 shows
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus elephants during Barnum's FUNundrum in New York.
 EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP - Getty Images

In recent years, Ringling Bros. tried to remain relevant, hiring its first African American ringmaster, then its first female ringmaster, and also launching an interactive app. It added elements from its other, popular shows, such as motorbike daredevils and ice skaters. But it seemingly was no match for Pokemon Go and a generation of kids who desire familiar brands and YouTube celebrities.

"We tried all these different things to see what would work, and supported it with a lot of funding as well, and we weren't successful in finding the solution," said Kenneth Feld.