Judge's Order Says Sesame Workshop's Lawsuit Against SeaWorld Is to Be Tried to a Jury, With Discovery Running to July 2027
The legal fight over the Sesame Street license, the deal behind Sesame Street Land at SeaWorld Orlando, is going to last a while. On Monday, October 19, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos signed a discovery plan and scheduling order in Sesame Workshop's lawsuit against SeaWorld, and its dates run well into the summer of 2027.
Two lines in the order stand out. The first: "This case is to be tried to a jury." The second, in capital letters in the original: "ALL DISCOVERY SHALL BE COMPLETED BY July 12, 2027."
The order sets no trial date. The judge set the next case management conference for July 14, 2027, at 11am at the federal courthouse at 40 Centre Street in Manhattan.
Elmo greets a family on Sesame Street in Sesame Street Land at SeaWorld Orlando. Image: SeaWorld Orlando
The case so far
Sesame Workshop sued SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and its parent, United Parks & Resorts, in federal court in Manhattan on March 12, 2026 (case 1:26-cv-02047). According to SeaWorld's own summary of the complaint, the two companies have worked together under license agreements signed in 1983, 2006 and 2017, and the 2017 agreement covers the two standalone Sesame Place parks and the Sesame Street areas inside SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks.
Sesame's side of the story, from its July 17 court brief: "This case is about SeaWorld's campaign to punish Sesame for doing nothing more than requiring SeaWorld to pay royalties that a unanimous three-judge arbitration panel held it owed to Sesame." That arbitration grew out of a 2022 royalty dispute over Sesame Place Langhorne. According to SeaWorld's brief, Sesame won an award in 2023 that became a final court judgment, which SeaWorld satisfied on October 24, 2025. Sesame's own brief also says that SeaWorld has not paid it any royalties since September 2025.
Sesame's allegations also include that SeaWorld backed out of a promised third standalone Sesame Place park, closed the Sesame Street Bay of Play at SeaWorld San Antonio, and moved Sesame Place San Diego to a seasonal schedule, all in retaliation for Sesame's efforts to collect the arbitration award. SeaWorld's brief answers that the license agreement already prices two of those moves in advance: liquidated damages if SeaWorld chooses not to open a third standalone park, and termination fees if an existing Sesame land, like the Bay of Play, closes permanently. Sesame says it invoiced SeaWorld for both and has not been paid. SeaWorld's brief treats the San Diego change as a dispute over the agreement's quality and approval terms. The retaliation claim is Sesame's allegation, and no court has ruled on it.
SeaWorld's position, from its June 19 motion: the companies' license agreement already spells out the royalties, approvals and closure fees at issue, and the case should focus on that contract "rather than the sideshow that Sesame stages around it." SeaWorld asked the judge to throw out two of Sesame's claims (unfair competition and breach of the implied covenant of good faith), to strike Sesame's demand for punitive damages, and to drop United Parks from the case entirely, arguing that United did not sign the agreement. The motion does not challenge Sesame's breach of contract claim against SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
Sesame's response, in the same July 17 brief: "The motion is a meritless delay tactic."
Still waiting on the judge
The last brief on the motion to dismiss, SeaWorld's reply, was filed on July 31, according to the court docket, and the motion was still pending when the judge signed the October 19 order. That order says so in a footnote, referring to "Defendants' pending partial motion to dismiss" and noting that the judge's ruling on it could set a different deadline for amending some of Sesame's claims.
The judge's order adopts the dates in a proposed case management plan filed on October 15, filling in the July 14 conference date himself. The key deadlines ahead:
- March 19, 2027: depositions of non-expert witnesses completed
- April 23, 2027: expert reports due
- May 21, 2027: rebuttal expert reports due
- July 9, 2027: expert depositions completed
- July 12, 2027: all discovery completed
- July 14, 2027: next case management conference
One of the interactive spots along Sesame Street in Sesame Street Land. Image: SeaWorld Orlando
What it means for SeaWorld Orlando
Nothing in the court record so far points to a change at the Orlando park. None of the four court filings we read names SeaWorld Orlando or says anything about changes to its Sesame Street Land, and SeaWorld's page for the land was still live on October 23. The filings mostly fight over money, approvals and the other Sesame properties named above, though Sesame also alleges that SeaWorld scaled back its promotion of the Sesame Street brand and has talked with other IP licensors about replacing Sesame. SeaWorld's brief notes that Sesame makes the second allegation "on information and belief" and argues that the agreement does not prohibit such talks.
But SeaWorld's own brief says the license at the center of the case covers the Sesame areas inside its SeaWorld parks, which would include Sesame Street Land, so this is a case worth watching for anyone with a little Elmo fan at home. We will keep an eye on the docket for the judge's ruling on the motion to dismiss.
Sources
- U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y., Sesame Workshop v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., Civil Case Discovery Plan and Scheduling Order, Dkt. 44 (signed October 19, 2026)
- Proposed Case Management Plan, Dkt. 43 (filed October 15, 2026)
- Defendants' Memorandum of Law in Support of Partial Motion to Dismiss, Dkt. 35 (filed June 19, 2026)
- Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in Opposition, Dkt. 38 (filed July 17, 2026)
- CourtListener, docket for case 1:26-cv-02047 (checked October 23, 2026)
- SeaWorld Orlando, Sesame Street Land
Image credits: SeaWorld Orlando.
