I don't think LS would do well. Going by how may people were at the LS show I saw last year, I don't think there is enough fanbase to make it profitable.

Though to me, theme isn't as important as playability/funfactor. Even the most absurd/bad themed pin with zero fanbase interested can be a great pin. Best example I can think of would be an Amish themed pin. Zero fan base interested in buying/playing it, but still could be cool... Hit the start button and it says "Thou art a sinner", the call outs for "Churn the Butter" mode could be epic, Barn Raising multiball, and a Rumspringa wizard mode. No outlanes, but instead "Shun lanes" and so forth could even get me to buy one. The theme sucks, but it's all in the execution and even a bad theme can still be fun if done well.

Even with that said, I can't see that Stern would think LS would be profitable overall. While I like LS, I think something more like a Snoop Dogg pin would be more profitable because he has a wider fanbase/likability and is still somewhat relevant (SD wouldn't be my kinda theme though personally, and any music themed pin that I don't like the band... I'm never buying one no matter how good it is. That to me, is the problem with music themed pins).

Hardly a joke... LS might do well regionally, but Snoop has sold millions more albums (in a much shorter and more recent time frame). I'm not a fan at all, but 14 top 10 singles is no small feat. While many of his fans might not be the main pinball demographic, reaching outside the norm is what brings new blood into the hobby. Also, there are many fans of that sort of genera have deep pockets and love to buy flashy things to try to impress people. Snoop would also likely be happy to do VOs for it and even advertise for it. Not only would it appeal to his fanbase, but also the pot subculture. Think of all those pot dispensaries where people have time to kill waiting for their turn in the back room with nothing to do. An SD pin would likely do damn well in the waiting room of any of the thousands of dispensaries here in the US for an op. I'd lay odds that SD would crush LS in profitability.

While I'm a Skynyrd fan, it just seems like LS is to narrow of a demographic. Most kids today would say "Which one's Lynyrd?", vandalize it because it had a Confederate flag on it, or just not be interested because they can't relate to the theme. I dunno, but that was my line of thinkin'.