Ed Snider
From Hoopedia
Ed Snider is one of the true giants of the sports and entertainment industry. His career has been guided by the principle that one must be constantly moving forward in order to succeed, and it's that philosophy that marks his leadership of Comcast-Spectacor today.
Ed first emerged as a leader in Philadelphia's sports business in 1966 when he founded the Philadelphia Flyers. He was the driving force behind the building of the Spectrum, and assumed control of the building in 1971. In 1974, Ed created Spectacor as a management company to oversee the Flyers and Spectrum. Over the next 20 years, Spectacor grew to be a national force in sports and entertainment. Under Ed's guidance, Spectacor started or acquired nearly a dozen businesses over the 20-year period from 1974 through 1994. Many of these enterprises were sold at a time when each was the industry leader in its field.
Perhaps nothing demonstrates Ed's perseverance and desire to succeed like the development of the Wachovia Center, a $210 million state-of-the-art arena completed in 1996. In the summer of 2000, the facility gained national prominence as the host facility for the Republican National Convention. Today, the Wachovia Center and the Wachovia Spectrum comprise the most active sports and entertainment complex in the world.
In 1996, Ed merged Spectacor with Comcast Corporation to form Comcast-Spectacor. The new venture initially consisted of the Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia 76ers, Wachovia Center, Wachovia Spectrum and Philadelphia Phantoms. Comcast-Spectacor then joined with the Philadelphia Phillies to form Comcast SportsNet, one of the highest-rated regional sports networks in the country.
Most recently, Comcast-Spectacor has developed Global Spectrum, an international facilities management company; Ovations Food Services, a national concessions company; New Era Tickets, a company which specializes in providing innovative technological solutions for box office management, event management and customer communications; and the Flyers Skate Zone, a series of regional ice skating rinks. These entities all represent components of Ed's vision: take what you do well and grow it.
Ed's success has been recognized by his peers. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988 and serves on the NHL's Executive Committee. He is a recipient of the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States and has been elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the Flyers Hall of Fame. In 2005, Ed received the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's William Penn Award, the most prestigious business honor in the region, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to Americans of all ethnic backgrounds who have made significant contributions to our society.
One of Snider's recent accomplishments is the creation of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which provides underserved children in the Philadelphia-area with the opportunity to learn to play ice hockey at area rinks. The programs all feature an educational component emphasizing teamwork and goal setting as important life lessons. The Foundation partnered with the School District of Philadelphia to enable students to play hockey as part of the school's physical education curriculum.
In February of 2001, Ed received Temple University's First Annual Sports Leadership Award presented by The Fox School of Business and Management. In May 1999, he was selected by Philadelphia Daily News readers as Philly's Greatest mover and shaker of the millennium in mail-in and online balloting. In December 1999, he received the Anti-Defamation League's prestigious Americanism Award. In 1985, Ed received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from MCP Hahnemann University and in May of 1999, he received the same from Thomas Jefferson Hospital. He is also a Benefactor of the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Other Board memberships include the Isadore Brodsky Institute for Cancer and Blood Diseases at MCP Hahnemann University, National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, The Atlas Society, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, the Middle East Forum and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
Ed and his wife Christine reside in suburban Philadelphia. His children include daughters Lindy, Tina, and Sarena and sons Craig, Jay, and Samuel, as well as 15 grandchildren.
