2025 – Record Low Ark Ticket Sales (and Martyn Iles’s Salary at AIG and Other Goodies)

By Dan Phelps
Coracles
Coracles, probably Baghdad; what the real Noah's Ark would have looked like. By Nile and Tigris. Journeys in Egypt and Mesopotamia on behalf of the British Museum between the years 1886 and 1913 (1920), showing coracles, or circular boats woven from reeds and sealed with pitch. Wikimedia, public domain.

According to my monthly Kentucky Open Records Act (KORA) request, December Ark ticket sales were the lowest ever (with the exception of 2020 – during the Covid pandemic). In December, 2025, the Ark sold 35,223 tickets, about 4,000 less than December, 2024. Of course, these ticket sales numbers don’t include lifetime pass members or children under 10.

The December ticket sales number means that the Ark sold 652,342 tickets in 2025. These numbers indicate that the Ark will never come close to the 1.4 to 2.2 million attendees per year projected when the Ark was begging/shaking down Grant County, Williamstown, and Kentucky Tourism for perks including 100 acres of land for $2, $200K cash, reduced taxes, a $62 million bond, and $1.825 million/year in sales tax rebates.

Because of massive donations, AIG and its shell companies are not in danger of collapse. They, are not, however, doing as well as in previous years.

According to AIG opponent, Evangelical Christian, and biologist Dr. Joel Duff, there have been layoffs recently at AIG and the Ark. See his analysis here: apparently, there have been numerous layoffs, retirements, and other departures from AIG.

More and more of the content on AIG’s website, coming exclusively from Ken Ham himself. Most notably, no one appears to be a replacement for Mr. Ham if he ever retires. His onetime appointed successor, Martyn Iles, somehow ended his employment with AIG and returned to Australia to form his own conservative ministry. There have been no official reasons given for this departure by either AIG or Martyn Iles himself (if you know, let us hear about it in the comments).

Although ticket sales are noticeably declining, AIG continues to build new buildings at both the Ark and the Creation Museum, and upgrade their existing infrastructure.

AIG also did a large advertising campaign for the Ark in 2025. Mostly, this was in the form of television commercials featuring a family of talking giraffes that was rerun extensively on FOX News and elsewhere. According to an article that appeared in Adweek (USA) on December 22, 2025, by Brittaney Kiefer, the ad, titled “Giraffes First Time,” aired an estimated 100 times and cost $631,311.00 (thanks to NCSE’s Glenn Branch for getting me this Adweek article).

I noticed that the corporate jet owned by Answers Collective (a for-profit controlled by AIG, funded by AIG’s “Parking Lot Ventures,” with at least two other major stockholders), was extensively refurbished in September. Apparently, a 25% share in the jet is now available for purchase, in case you need an airplane. This 8 seater jet has many amenities as detailed here.

AIG has also expanded out of Kentucky. They have partnered with a for-profit company which shows a version of the 3D virtual reality biblical show “Truth Traveler – from Eden to Eternity” in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and Branson, Missouri. The show apparently includes a planetarium that gives creationist explanations on how light made it from galaxies billions of light years away to earth in only 6,000 years. Although Pigeon Forge and Branson are well-known as blue-collar tourist destinations, I’m not sure how successful these creationist venues will be.

The IRS Form 990’s ending in December, 2024, for Answers in Genesis and Crosswater Canyon (the for-profit Ark Encounter’s non-profit organization), and Twelve Stones Christian Academy (AIG’s private school located at their headquarters) are now available (late January, 2026) via ProPublica. Alas, the IRS now redacts the identities of donors to non-profits on Form 990. These Form 990’s need to be reviewed by someone with a background in accounting and non-profit organizations. Unfortunately, Form 990 is always out of date by the time it becomes available; the 2025 Form 990 for AIG, Crosswater Canyon, and 12 Stones Academy are unlikely to be available before late January, 2027.

Answers in Genesis’ 2024 Form 990 indicates a surge in both revenue and expenses. Their revenue less expenses totals $17.1 million, up from $14.6 million in 2023. AIG has net assets of >$153.5 million.

In 2024 AIG’s Founding CEO Ken Ham earned about $267K, plus $24K in additional compensation. Executive CE Martyn Iles earned $203K plus $9.2K in additional compensation. It is still unclear what he actually did for AIG. Ham and AIG might have the same question. You can see other top salaries on Form 990 itself. Interestingly, at least five members of the Ham family are on the payroll (Schedule L, Part IV).

Crosswater Canyon’s Form 990 indicates $11.75 million net for 2024. The organization has a net worth >$82 million. After depreciation, the Ark Encounter and other buildings on the Ark property are valued in Part X as $115,649,125. Yet, the Grant County PVA office values the Ark for tax purposes at only $48 million.

According to 12 Stones Academy’s Form 990, the school lost more than $1.7 million in 2024 and now has a net assets or fund balance of –$2.9 million. I guess, given this financial crisis, along with their anti-science teachings, that it is a good thing they aren’t in charge of Kentucky education (at least not yet).

Ken Ham has acknowledged at least some attendance problems in 2025 and notes that visits to his “boat” and “museum” are down because of “will previous years’ economic impact. During a 2025 fundraiser, AIG raised more than $10 million with a $10 million matching fund, totaling more than $20 million. Ham’s admission of attendance problems can be found here .