Comedian Nate Bargatze Plans Theme Park in Nashville

Tennessee comedian Nate Bargatze announced plans to develop a theme park called Nateland on more than 100 acres in Nashville. The project is estimated to cost about $350 million and would feature Bargatze as the central mascot. Bargatze, 47, has built his career on a family-friendly comedy style that avoids profanity and political topics.

His company, Nateland Entertainment, operates a podcast network, a comedy cruise, and produces content from other clean comedians.

Bargatze grew up in the Nashville suburb of Old Hickory.

He worked at Opryland USA as a teenager and later moved to Chicago and New York to pursue stand-up comedy. He gained wider recognition after appearing on a Netflix series in 2017 and has since hosted Saturday Night Live and the Emmys. 5 million, nearly 50 percent more than the second-highest-earning comedian that year.

The ongoing Big Dumb Eyes tour is projected to sell more than 2 million tickets, exceeding Beyoncé's ticket sales from her top-grossing 2025 music tour.

Bargatze has hired former KPMG partner Felix Verdigets as chief executive of the project. The team has retained Storyland Studios, a California firm whose founders previously worked at Disney, Legoland, and Universal Studios. Negotiations for a specific site are ongoing.

Tennessee deputy governor Stuart McWhorter stated that the project aligns with the state's preference for heartland and middle-America themes. Bargatze has said he aims to evoke the nostalgia of the former Opryland USA park, where he held his first job.

"I’m the Mickey Mouse," he told the Wall Street Journal.