Broomfield, Colorado — Vail Resorts isn’t having a good start to its summer.
A report a few weeks ago that activist investors were considering waging a proxy battle was definitely not welcome news for the Colorado-based company. The continued push by billionaire and Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince to acquire Park City Mountain Resort has generated headlines and intrigue in the ski industry.
To try to calm investors’ fears, Rob Katz released a podcast episode of Epic By Nature. The podcast is a cool behind-the-scenes look at the company, including interviews with people both inside and outside of Vail Resorts. Even if I don’t agree with everything he says on there, I do find it interesting to hear the insights from an industry veteran. In recent months, they’ve discussed some heavier topics that have caused issues for Vail in the past, such as unions and guest misconceptions.
Vail’s latest podcast episode explains why its current 42-owned-and-operated network works best for the company. Prince called on Vail Resorts to adopt a franchise model, with ski resorts operated by others. Katz argued that their model works because of their current ownership structure, which allows them to set pass prices, support career growth within the organization, and have technological systems that improve the guest and employee experience. Katz also discussed room for improvement, including in community relationships.
Katz also touched on why Park City Mountain Resort isn’t for sale. Its size, role in selling Epic Passes, and the complexity of its lease agreements with the land owners make a sale very difficult. He doesn’t mention Prince by name, but it’s strongly implied.
Matthew Prince responded to the podcast episode on Twitter (yes, I know what they call it now), claiming he lives rent-free in Vail’s head. Having that net worth can do that to a publicly traded company.
This beef clearly isn’t going anywhere, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
Image/Audio Credits: Matt Omann, Vail Resorts
