We can debate and argue about the "safety" of such operation from now until kingdom come. Defenders - and surely the operator - will obviously say they're doing it safely and not violating any FAR's. Those of us with more experience and better judgment wouldn't go near such an operation - the risk is simply too high. I'm truly surprised that the FAA didn't get some noise/low-flying complaints.
aa777888's post was pretty darn good - a very "fair and balanced" appraisal. He's done that work (fair rides) and I have not. I have but one quibble. I timed the ride at just about (or just under) three minutes. (There was a slight edit just before the turnaround at the stadium that cut some time out.) The sign said $20 per person. Assuming a three pax minimum, that's $60 per ride. At three minutes per ride, you can do 20 rides per flight hour (collective up to collective down). That's friggin' $1,200 per flight hour - not too shabby! Now, we know that even though the minimum is supposed to be three pax, not *every* ride will have three. Still, even if your average load factor is 2.5, that's still $1,000 per flight hour. For an R-44. Here in the U.S., most of these state fairs last a whole week. See why the fair ride operators are drawn to this type of work?