Snyder and Shapiro: A High-Powered Team

Those who know Snyder and Shapiro wonder whether it's just a matter of time before they bang heads. But Shapiro said Snyder would be a "non-executive chairman" who gives him room to operate.

The Six Flags board is not sitting idle. It has put the company up for sale as a defensive move and is lobbying shareholders to reject Snyder's proposal.

Snyder "doesn't get it," the board said in material sent to shareholders. His ideas are "foolish" and "uninformed." "Ownership of [a] professional sports franchise [is] not comparable to managing theme parks," the board said. Ditto for "managing programming at a cable sports network." It said all Snyder and Shapiro have to offer is a "Trust Me Plan."

To Snyder and Shapiro, that should be all that's necessary.

They note Six Flags' debt and say the company's revenue, stock and public reputation have all plummeted. Six Flags operates 30 parks in North America, including one in Prince George's County. In submissions to stockholders, Snyder and Shapiro included news clips with such headlines as "Magic Mountain -- Security To Be Tightened After Two Weekends Of Violence."

"It's about what's not being done. It's about low-hanging fruit," Shapiro said on a visit to Washington this month. "Right now [Six Flags] is known more for long lines and broken rides than anything else."

Simple things could be improved, he said -- such as dumping Bugs Bunny and other cartoon characters he considers not "culturally relevant" for the company's merchandise and rides -- and "doing more for children under 48 inches tall" to attract more families.

"Kids today don't know Daffy Duck," he said. " 'Bob the Builder' is on at my house. 'Dora the Explorer' is on at my house."

More important, the two men say, they will do for Six Flags what they did for ESPN and the Redskins.

As programming chief, Shapiro said, he "stretched the brand to make ESPN synonymous with anything sports" by pioneering original entertainment, bringing the NBA and "Monday Night Football" to the network and developing such shows as "Around the Horn" and "Pardon the Interruption," which features two Washington Post sports columnists.

Shapiro said he could stretch Six Flags "into a family brand," allowing him and Snyder to "start playing in different fields."

He rattled off corporate role models: Nickelodeon, which has expanded into movies, video games and merchandise, and Starbucks, which in addition to coffee now sells music.