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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 Xfinity Mobile Arena 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 previously owned Spectra (formerly Global Spectrum, Ovations and Paciolan). Globally, Spectra served 300-plus clients at more than 400 properties including public assembly facilities throughout the United States and Canada. Some included:[3]
In August 2021, it was announced that Spectra would be merging with Oak View Group to form a full-service live events company.[4] That November, Oak View acquired Comcast's stake in the business, which it has since folded into its holdings.[5]
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 Xfinity Mobile Arena, 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.[6][7]
Comcast Spectacor also oversaw the second iteration of 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.[8][9]
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