Formerly | Spectacor (1974–1996) |
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Company type | Division |
Industry | Professional sports |
Founded | 1974 |
Founder | Ed Snider |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
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Parent | Comcast (1996–present) |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | comcastspectacor |
Comcast Spectacor is an American sports and entertainment company and division of Comcast based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League, the Seoul Infernal [1] of the Overwatch League, and formerly owned the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association and the Maine Mariners of the ECHL. The company owns and manages the Wells Fargo Center and formerly managed the Spectrum in South Philadelphia, plus several community skating rinks in the Philadelphia region. The Comcast SportsNet (CSN) regional sports networks were also owned by Comcast Spectacor prior to parent company Comcast's acquisition of 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 but remained as chairman of the renamed Comcast Spectacor. Shortly afterward, Comcast Spectacor bought the 76ers; as the Spectrum's owner, Snider had been the Sixers' landlord since 1971. Comcast Spectacor sold the 76ers to Josh Harris in 2011. In April 2016, Snider died at his home in California. On September 22, 2016, Comcast bought out the remaining 24% stake in Spectacor that it did not already own. [2]
Comcast Spectacor is the principal owner of Spectra (formerly Global Spectrum, Ovations and Paciolan). Globally, Spectra serves 300-plus clients at more than 400 properties including 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 Spectra are: [3]
Spectra is composed of three divisions: Venue Management (formerly Global Spectrum), Food Services & Hospitality (formerly Ovations Food Services), and Ticketing & Fan Engagement (formerly Paciolan).
On June 12, 2017, Learfield, acquired Spectra's Ticketing & Fan Engagement division – formerly known as Paciolan – from Comcast Spectacor. [4]
In August 2021, it was announced that Spectra would be merging with Oak View Group to form a full-service live events company. [5]
On November 19, 2021, Oak View Group completed the acquisition of Spectra to form a full-service live events company. [6]
Comcast Spectacor owns Ovations Food Services, which provides food and beverage services to arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters, fairgrounds and convention centers throughout the United States. The roots of the name Ovations go back to a restaurant in the Spectrum, which was located below the concourse.[ citation needed ]
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 Wells Fargo Center, Liacouras Center at Temple University, CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey, and the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Comcast Spectacor owned the Seoul Infernal, an Overwatch League team formerly known as the Philadelphia Fusion, until the closure of the Overwatch League. The organization partnered with SK Telecom to establish a joint venture with T1 Entertainment & Sports to develop esports teams around the world; Comcast Spectacor currently owns a 32% stake. [7] [8]
Comcast Spectacor also oversees G4, a former video game-centric cable and satellite network that was operated by G4 Media from April 24, 2002, to December 31, 2014. The network was relaunched in November 2021 and shuttered in November of the following year. [9] [10]
Wells Fargo Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia. It serves as the home of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The arena lies at the southwest corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and Xfinity Live!.
The Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arena opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. After several expansions of its seating capacity, it accommodated 18,168 for basketball and 17,380 for ice hockey, arena football, indoor soccer, and box lacrosse.
The Colonial Life Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center in 2002, the 18,000-seat arena is also host to various events, including conferences, concerts, and graduation ceremonies. It is the largest arena in the state of South Carolina and the eighth largest campus college arena.
The Iowa Events Center is a public events complex located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were originally established as Comcast SportsNet (CSN), a unit of Comcast's cable television business, beginning with a network in Philadelphia which launched in 1997. Their operations were aligned with the national NBC Sports division following the 2011 acquisition of NBCUniversal by Comcast. NBC Sports Regional Networks' business and master control operations are based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
The Liacouras Center is a 10,206-seat multi-purpose venue which opened in 1997 and was originally named "The Apollo of Temple". The arena was renamed in 2000 for Temple University President, Peter J. Liacouras. It is part of a $107 million, four-building complex along North Broad Street on the Temple University campus in North Philadelphia. The Liacouras Center is the largest indoor, public assembly venue in Philadelphia north of City Hall.
PRISM was an American regional premium cable television channel in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Launched in September 1976, PRISM was primarily distributed through area cable systems, although it was also available through a scrambled over-the-air signal on WWSG-TV from 1983 to 1985.
Edward Malcolm Snider was an American business executive. He was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League; the Wells Fargo Center; the regional sports network Comcast SportsNet; and Global Spectrum, an international facilities management company. He formerly owned the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, and ran the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League for a few years in the 1960s.
Addition Financial Arena is a sports and entertainment arena located near Orlando in Orange County, Florida, United States, on the main campus of the University of Central Florida. It was constructed beginning in 2006 as a replacement for the original UCF arena, and as a part of Knights Plaza. The arena is home to the UCF Knights men's and women's basketball teams. The arena also hosted the annual Science Olympiad in 2012 and 2014.
NBC Sports Philadelphia is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by locally based cable television provider Comcast, and the Philadelphia Phillies. It is the flagship owned-and-operated outlet of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming.
The South Philadelphia Sports Complex is the home of four major Philadelphia professional sports teams. The complex is located in South Philadelphia and is the site of Wells Fargo Center, home arena for the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, Lincoln Financial Field, home field for the Philadelphia Eagles, Citizens Bank Park, home field for the Philadelphia Phillies, and Xfinity Live!, a sports retail and entertainment center, in addition to shared parking lots for the complex's venues.
ComcastTIX is a regional consumer ticketing company powered by New Era Tickets. Comcast Spectacor, the Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm, in a partnership with Comcast Cable, launched ComcastTIX on September 12, 2006. ComcastTIX is a provider of customized ticketing and fan marketing to sports and entertainment organizations.
The Adirondack Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL), who began play in the 2009–10 AHL season. The Phantoms were based in Glens Falls, New York, playing home games at the Glens Falls Civic Center and were the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers. The franchise moved to Glens Falls from Philadelphia, where they were known as the Philadelphia Phantoms from 1996 to 2009 in the Flyers' former arena, the Spectrum.
The Philadelphia Wings are a professional box lacrosse team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The Wings have their home games at the Wells Fargo Center since the 2018–2019 season.
Fusion Arena was a planned multi-use facility located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Announced on March 25, 2019, the original plan for the venue was to be a dedicated esports arena as the home to the Philadelphia Fusion of the Overwatch League (OWL) within the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It was originally planned to open prior to the 2021 OWL season.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment LLC (HBSE) is an American sports and venue management company founded by Josh Harris and David Blitzer in September 2017. HBSE owns and operates the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), their minor league affiliates, and the Prudential Center. HBSE also holds a minority stake in the NASCAR team Joe Gibbs Racing. The company is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, and was valued at $11.86 billion in 2024.
Valerie J. Camillo is an American sports executive. She last served as the President and CEO of Spectacor Sports & Entertainment, Comcast Spectacor's sports and entertainment division which includes the business operations of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center. Prior to joining the Flyers, Camillo served as the Chief Revenue and Marketing officer for the Washington Nationals and as Senior Vice President of the NBA's Team Marketing and Business Operations group.
76 Place at Market East was a proposed 18,500-capacity indoor arena planned for Center City, Philadelphia that would have served as the home of the city's National Basketball Association (NBA) team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Originally planned for a 2031 opening to coincide with the expiration of the team's current lease of the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadelphia, the arena would have been located along the north side of Market Street between 10th and 11th Streets, extending to Cuthbert Street, occupying what is now the western third of Fashion District Philadelphia and the defunct Philadelphia Greyhound Terminal.
The New South Philadelphia Arena is a planned multi-purpose indoor arena located in Philadelphia that will serve as the home of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Scheduled to open in 2031, the arena will serve as a replacement for the Wells Fargo Center, the current home arena for both teams.