American sports and entertainment company
Comcast Spectacor is an American sports and entertainment company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, 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. 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 announced that it would buy out the remaining 24% that it did not already own.[2]
Spectra Experiences
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]
- Addition Financial Arena at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida
- Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington
- Atlantic City Convention Center and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey
- Augusta Entertainment Complex in Augusta, Georgia
- Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario, Canada
- Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri
- Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas
- Cleveland State University Wolstein Center, in Cleveland, Ohio
- Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine
- Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine
- Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina
- CURE Insurance Arena in Trenton, New Jersey
- Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Ford Entertainment Complex in Beaumont, Texas
- Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York
- Liacouras Center at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Lowell Memorial Auditorium, located in Lowell, Massachusetts
- Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas
- PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania
- RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California
- Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a Chicago suburb
- SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, a Chicago suburb
- Sioux Falls Convention Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, British Columbia
- St. Charles Convention Center in Saint Charles, Missouri
- State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
- Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb
- Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
- Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa
- University of Massachusetts Amherst William D. Mullins Memorial Center, located in Amherst, Massachusetts
- University of Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas Center, located in Lowell, Massachusetts
- Value City Arena at The Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio
- Watsco Center at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida
- Wells Fargo Arena, part of the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa
- Wells Fargo Center is in Spectra's corporate hometown of Philadelphia. The Wells Fargo Center's predecessor, The Spectrum, is the namesake of the company.
- WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario
- XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut
- Colisée Vidéotron in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada
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]
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. 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 owns the Seoul Infernal, an Overwatch League team. The organization partnered with SK Telecom to establish a joint venture with T1 Entertainment & Sports to develop esports teams around the world.[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]
