Gaylord Entertament Company -- Company History

Contents:

• GAYLORD HOTELS
• WELE TO GAYLORD
• WELE TO GAYLORD ROCKI RORT & CONVENTN CENTER
• GAYLORD COMMERCIAL CO LTD
• FAY-OWNED GAYLORD COMPANY SUCCEEDS THROUGH CREATIVY & FLEXIBILY
• CAREERS AT GAYLORD INDTRI
• GAYLORD
• GAYLORD BOX
• GAYLORD OPERATOR
• GAYLORD, MI
• MARRTT INTERNATNAL, RIDA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATN, AND AR MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCE COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTCTN OF GAYLORD PACIFIC RORT AND CONVENTN CENTER
• WORKG AT GAYLORD HOTELS

GAYLORD HOTELS

Company History: Gaylord Entertament Company is a diversified entertament and munitns pany whose holdgs clu the Grand Ole Opry, the Opryland Hotel, and Opry Mills, a massive retail and entertament center Nashville, Tennsee.

The Gaylord and Dickson fai began what would bee the Gaylord Entertament Company the Oklahoma Terrory 1903--Oklahoma would not bee a part of the Unn until 1907.

Realizg the future potential of rad, which was still s fancy durg the early 1920s, the Gaylords and Dicksons branched out to the broadstg dtry 1928 wh the purchase of WKY-AM, a statn Oklahoma Cy. Unr the directn of founr Edward Kg Gaylord, Oklahoma Publishg Company prospered durg the early and mid-1900s wh s rad and publishg operatns.

WELE TO GAYLORD

Gaylord snapped up several statns, cludg KTVT Dallas, WVTV Milwkee, Hoton's KHTV, and KSTW Seattle; at one pot, the pany was operatg seven statns. Oklahoma Publishg Company's televisn and rad operatns were anized unr s wholly owned Gaylord Broadstg subsidiary.

WELE TO GAYLORD ROCKI RORT & CONVENTN CENTER

Bee the pany was privately owned by the Gaylord fay, fancial and operatg data was generally not ma available to the public.

GAYLORD COMMERCIAL CO LTD

Amazgly, Edward Kg Gaylord, who had helped start the pany 1903 at the age of 32, was still actively managg the pany the early 1970s. In the mid-1980s, for example, he ma an unsuccsful bid to purchase the Texas Rangers baseball anizatn--bee of his disda for reporters, Gaylord had his Oklahoma newspapers rry stori (about the failed acquisn) om a Dallas newspaper.

The bs foray that would brg Gaylord the greatt amount of succs and would thst his pany to the natnal spotlight was his 1983 purchase of Nashville-based Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel. Opryland's vigoro expansn durg the late 1970s and early 1980s ught the eye of Gaylord, who viewed the Opry's broadstg and entertament operatns as a fortable f wh Gaylord Broadstg. In September 1983, Gaylord purchased the Opry properti for $250 ln; the transactn would later be lled one of the entertament dtry's better bargas.

FAY-OWNED GAYLORD COMPANY SUCCEEDS THROUGH CREATIVY & FLEXIBILY

Although Nashville lols feared that Dallas-based Gaylord Broadstg might start sellg off Opry properti, Gaylord soon allayed their worri. One of Vghn's and Dimond's savvit mov after the Gaylord acquisn was the creatn of the Country Christmas, which brought untry mic stars for a special, seasonal event. Ined, as Gaylord beefed up the Opryland plex and stepped up promotnal activi, attendance at the Grand Ole Opry and the theme park mhroomed.

In addn, Gaylord began extendg Opryland's reach several other directns an effort to build an entire Opryland enterprise found on untry mic. In 1983, Gaylord started beamg The Nashville Network (TNN), an advertiser-supported ble televisn work featurg untry liftyl and entertament. In 1985, moreover, Gaylord opened the 1, 200 passenger General Jackson riverboat, the largt paddlewheel showboat the world.

5 ln of that amount was ted as e, largely bee of the heavy bt load curred by Gaylord when he purchased the laggg ble divisn.

CAREERS AT GAYLORD INDTRI

Lowerg Gaylord's $550 ln bt, among other objectiv, prompted the media mogul to take his pany public October 1991.

Oklahoma Publishg Company remaed a separate pany, but all of s broadstg and entertament holdgs were fold to a new holdg pany, Gaylord Entertament Company.

Gaylord's stock offerg 1991 drew skepticism om some stock brokers who viewed the pany as a large, margally profable ncern domated by an agg, out-of-step executive. ' Other analysts predicted that the move signaled the likely ex of Gaylord and his fay om ownership of the pany. Dpe some negative speculatn about Gaylord Entertament's stock sale, Gaylord ntued to foc on bolsterg the pany's strength untry-related enterpris.

GAYLORD

In 1992, Gaylord went ternatnal wh CMT Europe, which offered the work's vios to viewers primarily the Uned Kgdom and Sndavia. To the dismay of Gaylord's tractors, Opryland management's aggrsive, long-term growth efforts durg the 1980s and early 1990s began to bear u. Furthermore, 1992 e ghed to nearly $30 ln and Gaylord's total long-term bt tumbled to a manageable $300 ln.

GAYLORD BOX

By the end of 1993, Gaylord Entertament had bee a diversified media and entertament nglomerate that was on the road to beg virtually domant the untry mic dtry. The latter half of the 1990s saw Gaylord Entertament ntue to pursue new bs opportuni and velopment projects. The last years of the also saw Gaylord Entertament abandon some existg bs, cludg the closure of one of the pany's signature properti.

In 1997--a by year for the pany--Gaylord Entertament appoted a new chief executive officer, pany veteran Terry London, who had prevly served as chief fancial officer.

The change learship marked the end of Wenll's 19-year tenure as the pany's lear and the begng of strategic chang that altered the posn of Gaylord's holdgs.

GAYLORD OPERATOR

Two years later, the pany pursued the same angle unr London's learship, purchasg 51 percent of the Christian mic web se Concurrently, acquired 100 percent of, a Christian-ntent provir for the spirual channel of Gaylord Entertament's onle activi were subsequently anized to a new divisn lled GETdigalmedia, a venture that was expected to generate $20 ln revenue 2000. 's CBS Cable un October 1997, but the biggt news of the year was the announcement that Gaylord Entertament had cid to close the Opryland Themepark.

GAYLORD, MI

After teamg up wh Arlgton, Virgia-based The Mills Corp., Gaylord Entertament broke ground on the Opry Mills project October 1998, a $200 ln, 1.

As Gaylord Entertament geared self for the first years of the 21st century, nstctn crews were by erectg val ponents of the pany's future. In late 1998, Gaylord Entertament announced two new hotel-velopment projects, a 1, 500-room Opryland Hotel Grapeve, Texas, and a 1, 400-room Opryland Hotel Osceola County, near Orlando, Florida. Prcipal Divisns: Gaylord Broadstg Divisn; Gaylord Cable Networks Divisn; Gaylord Digal Divisn (GETdigalmedia); Gaylord Entertament Divisn; Syndi Entertament Group.

Nelson, Carrgton, 'In Nashville, Tenn., Gaylord Entertament Tras Tradn for Future, ' Knight-Ridr/Tribune Bs News, November 6, 1997, p. Gaylord Indtri has manufactured Pollutn Control equipment specifilly signed for mercial kchen exhst systems sce the early 1970’s, longer than any other manufacturer.

MARRTT INTERNATNAL, RIDA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATN, AND AR MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCE COMMENCEMENT OF CONSTCTN OF GAYLORD PACIFIC RORT AND CONVENTN CENTER

Gaylord Opryland Rort & Conventn CenterFact Sheet:Click HereBoilerplate:Gaylord Opryland Rort & Conventn Center, loted at 2800 Opryland Drive Nashville, Tenn., is the flagship property of Gaylord Hotels, part of the Marrtt portfol of brands. For more rmatn, vis Palms Rort & Conventn CenterFact Sheet:Click HereBoilerplate:Gaylord Palms Rort & Conventn Center offers a mix of entertament both si and out, creatg a superr gut experience one of the world’s most popular tourist statns.

In addn to the daily rort offergs, every season provis even more credible special experienc durg Easter Eggstravaganza, SummerFt, Gobls & Giggl Getaway Weekends and Christmas at Gaylord more about the rort at and stay nnected wh all the rort happengs by followg @GaylordPalms on Facebook, Twter and Instagram.

Gaylord Texan Rort & Conventn CenterFact Sheet:Click HereBoilerplate:The premier rort statn of the Amerin Southwt, Gaylord Texan Rort offers extraordary environments, 1, 814 luxury gut rooms, and four-and-a-half acr of Texas vistas unr signature glass atriums on s spectacular 125-acre property. Ially suated on the shor of betiful Lake Grapeve, Gaylord Texan Rort is nveniently loted only six mut om Dallas-Fort Worth Internatnal Airport.

WORKG AT GAYLORD HOTELS

Gaylord Natnal Rort & Conventn CenterFact Sheet:Click HereBoilerplate:Gaylord Natnal Rort and Conventn Center is the largt, non-gamg hotel and nventn center on the East Coast, loted along the banks of the Potomac River Natnal Harbor, Maryland and part of Marrtt Internatnal, Inc. Gaylord Rocki Rort & Conventn CenterFact Sheet:Fact SheetBoilerplate:Jt mut om both the Denver Internatnal Airport and downtown Denver Aurora, Colo., Gaylord Rocki Rort & Conventn Center is Colorado’s largt bed rort and nventn center.

Gaylord Specialty Healthre is a rehabilatn-foced, nonprof health system that provis patient and outpatient re for people at every pot their journey om illns or jury to maximum revery. Gaylord is wily regnized for s learship treatg patients wh a spal rd jury, bra jury, or stroke and those requirg pulmonary, rdiac, or plex medil re, as well as sports-related juri. Gaylord is CARF (Commissn on Accredatn of Rehabilatn Facili) accreded for all patient and outpatient rehabilatn programs and has specialty accredatn for s spal rd, stroke, and bra jury programs.

Recently Viewed CompaniGaylord Commercial Company Limed operat as a non-pos acceptg non-bankg fancial pany. Jason Campbell has been officially at the helm of Unidoor Corporatn as print/CEO sce 2009, but he’s been wh the Gaylord-based pany for most of his life.