After nearly two years of shutdowns and delays, experiential licensing is opening with a vengeance that is drawing from a wide range of brand owners and equity investors.

To some extent, the bounce back of experiences was expected as formerly homebound consumers returned.  But it’s also being fueled by licensors, licensees and project and retail developers having spent much of the pandemic planning for the next turn of events and an infusion of capital. Mall operators, having suffered the pre-pandemic departure of some anchor retail tenants, were in search of new ones to fill vacant space, while licensors and licensees were seeking to speed development plans and investors found a new outlet to place their bets.

The quickened pace has led a flurry of plans being announced so far this year. For example, Netflix, which a few years ago showed little interest in licensing, has a global plan for live experiences based on its “Bridgerton” series, which is launching a second season on March 25.

Indeed, the 90-minute “Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience,” a venture between Netflix and TV Producer/screenwriter Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland production company, was scheduled to kick-off in Montreal (in French, Jan. 29-Feb. 6; English, Feb. 7-Feb. 15), but was postponed due to the pandemic.  There also are scheduled stops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. It features a recreation of the Bridgerton ballroom, performers and scenes from the series. The live experiences will be tied to consumer products with a goal of having consumers “flood” their social media feeds with Bridgerton-related news to further promote the already popular brand, said Ted Sarandos, Co-CEO and Chief Development Officer at Netflix told investors last month. Netflix also has a one hour plus experience for  “Stranger Things”  set to debut in New York (May 19) and San Francisco  (June 16)  which coincides with the expected mid-year release of the series’ fourth season.

“During the pandemic the only thing you had to think about was future business development and people are now moving in that direction,” said Julie Freeland, senior director for global location based entertainment (LBE) at Mattel. “The flipside is going to be there will be a ton of competition coming out of this, but not everyone will survive. The key will be creating meaningful experiences and that is a given. But the magic will be making sure it is true to the brand.”

Along those lines, Mattel, which has developed various Barbie mall-based experiences over the years and has Thomas and Friend parks in the U.S. and UK and a restaurant in China, will launch its first theme park late this year with licensee Epic Entertainment Group at Crystal Lagoons Island Resort in Glendale, AZ. It also will open the first of its 25,000-sq.-ft. Mission Play family entertainment centers (FECs) in Berlin in 2023, having delayed earlier FEC plans for launching in Toronto in spring 2020.

Meanwhile, Hasbro licensee Kilburn Live! has begun demolition at the American Dream Mall in New Jersey to develop a 40,000-sq.-ft. Hasbro Game Room that will open this fall with games, rides and dining featuring some of the 30 properties it licensed under a 10-year deal. Hasbro’s interest in LBE was underscored by a recent job posting for a Burbank, CA-based “global creative leader” to develop style guides and “support commercial growth objectives” for merchandise and promotions.

And Crayola, which unveiled plans for licensing its Crayola Experience 25,000-60,000-sq.-ft. format last fall, expects to introduce the first of them in 2023 along with two smaller 15,000-20,000-sq.-ft. Magic of Color and Art House  touring attractions, said Warren Schorr, VP of business development and global licensing at Crayola. Crayola itself has plans for experiences across museums and learning, hotels and leisure, amusements and attractions and live shows, Schorr said.

“There are at least three hubs including product, experiences and content and the goal of experience is to surround the guest,” Schorr said. “It is incumbent for brand and IP to look at it as a journey surrounding the consumer. Obviously Disney and other studios have already done that. Now it is critical for the rest of us to catch up.”

That catching up will come in various forms. For example, Merlin Entertainment, two years removed from its sale to Lego, announced last week it was buying 32-year-old Cadbury World in the UK from Mondelez International, as part of a 50-year agreement that includes the operations and brand licenses for a park that attracts 600,000 visitors annually. Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which owns more than 70 brands, has hired former Madison Square Garden executive Matthew Goldstein as senior vice president for branded entertainment and special projects. And Lionsgate licensee Dubai Holdings opened an expansion of its Motiongate theme park on Jan. 21 with a new John Wick rollercoaster and a spinning coaster “inspired by” the three Now You See Me films. The rides are the first of “several” Lionsgate-licensed experiential projects that will open this year, said Jenefer Brown, EVP and head of global LBE at Lionsgate.

Those agreements and expansions, plus the Hasbro-Kilburn Live! deal, all share new-found funding muscle being injected into experiences that once struggled to find financial support but now use it to expand. Kilburn has the backing of Goff Capital in the Hasbro agreement, while ABG last year sold equity stakes to CVC Capital and hedge fund HSP Investment Partners in a deal that valued the company at $12.7 billion. And that was in addition to ABG already counting Blackrock Capital among its investors.

“Ten years ago private equity paid no attention to experiential businesses and viewed it as a risky venture,” said Charlie Keegan, CEO of Kilburn’s The Game Room venture with Hasbro and who previously headed the bowling/entertainment dining chain Main Event Entertainment. “Now they see it as a great concept with recurring revenue.”