Comcast Spectacor
Comcast Spectacor | |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Sports management |
Founded | 1974 |
Founder | Edward M. Snider |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Ed Snider, (Chairman) Fred Shabel, (Vice Chairman) Dave Scott,(President),[1] Gary Rostick, (CFO[1][2] |
Owner | Ed Snider (37%) Comcast (63%) |
Parent | Comcast |
Subsidiaries | Philadelphia Flyers, Global Spectrum, Ovations Food Services, Paciolan, New Era Tickets, Front Row Marketing Services, Wells Fargo Center, Flyers Skate Zone, Paciolan |
Website | Comcast Spectacor |
Comcast Sports Ventures d.b.a. Comcast Spectacor is a Philadelphia-based American sports and entertainment company. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and formerly owned the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. The company owns and manages the Wells Fargo Center and formerly managed the Spectrum in South Philadelphia before that arena was demolished, plus several community skating rinks in the Philadelphia region known as Flyers Skate Zone. The Comcast SportsNet regional sports networks were also owned by Comcast Spectacor prior to parent company Comcast's acquisition of a majority stake in NBCUniversal in January 2011; CSN is now operated through NBC Sports.
The company was formed in 1974 by Flyers founder and chairman Ed Snider as Spectacor, the parent company of both the Flyers and the Spectrum. Snider had been instrumental in getting the Spectrum built in 1967, and assumed control of the arena in 1971. He sold a 63% stake in Spectacor to Comcast in 1996, remaining the renamed Comcast Spectacor's chairman. Shortly afterward, Comcast Spectacor bought the 76ers; as the Spectrum's owner, Snider had been the Sixers' landlord since 1971.
Global Spectrum
Comcast Spectacor is the principal owner of Global Spectrum. The company manages and operates public assembly facilities throughout the United States and Canada, such as arenas, civic and convention centers, stadiums, university convocation center, trade and exposition centers, community ice rinks and theaters. Some of the arenas and stadiums currently managed by Global Spectrum are:
- Wells Fargo Center in Global Spectrum's corporate hometown of Philadelphia. The Wells Fargo Center's predecessor, The Spectrum, is the namesake of the company.
- PPL Center in Allentown, PA (Under Construction)
- Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines) which is part of Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, IA
- Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona,
- Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri,
- PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.
- Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada
- UCF Arena at The University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida
- BankUnited Center at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Mullins Center, located in Amherst, Massachusetts
- University of Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas Center, located in Lowell, Massachusetts
- The Ohio State University Jerome Schottenstein Center, in Columbus, Ohio
- The Fargodome, located in Fargo, North Dakota
- The Cross Insurance Center, in Bangor, Maine
- Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey.
- Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York.
- MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- St. Charles Convention Center in Saint Charles, Missouri.
- Sioux Falls Convention Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
- Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas.
- Comcast Arena at Everett in Everett, Washington.
- WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario.
- Las Cruces Convention Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico
- Augusta Entertainment Complex in Augusta, Georgia
- Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas
- XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut
- AutoZone Park in Memphis, Tennessee; currently managing team marketing and stadium operations until the Memphis Redbirds Foundation can find a buyer for the team and ballpark.
Global Spectrum works in conjunction with another Comcast-Spectacor entity called Front Row Marketing Services, which works to identify new revenue streams at facilities.
Other businesses
Comcast Spectacor owns Ovations Food Services, which provides food and beverage services to arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, fairgrounds and convention centers throughout the United States. New Era Tickets is the full-service ticketing subsidiary of Comcast Spectacor, and provides in-house ticketing in the US and Canada. In Philadelphia, the company operates under the name ComcastTIX and provides tickets to events at Wachovia Complex, Liacouras Center at Temple University, Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey, and the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.