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28-471: Each year, awards are presented—for the preceding calendar year—in the following categories: Outstanding Pro Athlete and/or Outstanding Philadelphia Pro Athlete of the Year (formerly Pro Athlete), Outstanding Amateur Athlete, Team of the Year, Outstanding Penn Relays collegiate performer (Frank Dolson/Penn Relays Award), Living Legend, Native Son, Humanitarian, Good Guy Award, and Most Courageous Athlete. The name of

56-536: A 66% stake of all of his businesses, including Spectacor, to Philadelphia-based Comcast , creating Comcast-Spectacor. However, Snider remained chairman of the venture, retaining a minority interest. As part of the deal, Comcast also purchased the 76ers, who had been Snider's tenants since 1971. Snider and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts became very close friends and business partners, remaining each other's closest advisor until Snider's death. Soon after, Comcast-Spectacor created Comcast SportsNet in 1996. Comcast-Spectacor

84-576: A charitable family foundation, which continues to operate after his death. The foundation donates millions of dollars annually to causes he believed in, including Jewish causes, conservative political organizations, and educational programs. In 1988, Snider was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame . In 1989, Snider was inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame alongside Keith Allen and Bill Barber . In 1997, Snider

112-660: A new arena—the Spectrum —to house both a hockey team and the 76ers. On February 8, 1966, the NHL awarded Philadelphia a conditional franchise, one which would eventually be named the Philadelphia Flyers and start playing in 1967 . In the summer of 1967, Snider and Wolman ended their business partnership and exchanged some of their business assets. Snider became the majority owner of the Flyers and Wolman became sole owner of

140-492: A patch in his memory on the right shoulder, a black circle with "EMS" in white, for their Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Washington Capitals. For the following season, they wore a patch on the same shoulder, this one having Snider's signature in a black circle, with a line and the Flyers logo under the signature. In 2017, the Philadelphia Flyers unveiled a statue of Snider below his old office outside

168-688: A regional premium cable channel, PRISM , and the first all-sports radio station, WIP . Amidst a lengthy battle with 76ers owner Harold Katz, the city of Philadelphia, and the city of Camden, New Jersey, Snider privately-financed a new arena to keep the Flyers and 76ers in Philadelphia, what would become the CoreStates Center (now the Wells Fargo Center). Prior to the Wells Fargo Center's opening in 1996, he sold

196-565: 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

224-748: 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

252-913: 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

280-708: The Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League for a few years in the 1960s. Snider was born to a Jewish family in the Washington, D.C. region, the son of a grocery-store chain owner. He attended the University of Maryland and earned his bachelor's degree in accounting. Snider started a record company, Edge Ltd., with his friend Jerry Lilienfield in the 1960s, which was moderately successful. They eventually shut down

308-705: 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: 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. In August 2021, it

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336-709: The Wells Fargo Center . Bass, Alan (2022). "Ed Snider: The Last Sports Mogul" . Triumph Books. Spectacor Comcast Spectacor is an American sports and entertainment company 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 of the Overwatch League , and formerly owned

364-527: The 107th Awards Dinner on January 31, 2011. The awardees were honored at the 108th Awards Dinner on January 30, 2012. The awardees were honored at the 109th Awards Dinner on January 28, 2013. The awardees were honored at the 110th Awards Dinner on January 27, 2014. The awardees were honored at the 112th annual awards dinner on February 1, 2016 The awardees are to be honored at the 113th annual awards dinner on February 3, 2017. Ed Snider Edward Malcolm Snider (January 6, 1933 – April 11, 2016)

392-644: 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. 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

420-546: The Ed Snider Lifetime Distinguished Humanitarian Award, with Ed Snider as the first recipient of the newly named award. Snider has six children. He had 15 grandchildren at the time of his death. Jay Snider served as president of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1983 to 1994, and president of Spectacor, Inc. from 1987 to 94. Most of his children worked for Spectacor or Comcast-Spectacor at some point during their lives. Snider

448-740: The Most Courageous Athlete recipient is kept secret until the night of the dinner. In 2012, the Humanitarian award was presented to Ed Snider and renamed in his honor as the Ed Snider Lifetime Distinguished Humanitarian Award. In 2015, two new awards were begun: the Bill Campbell Broadcast Award and the Stan Hochman Award (for that year's best sports story in the region). In some years, awards are given in other categories: Executive of

476-529: The Spectrum. When Wolman placed the Spectrum in bankruptcy in 1971, Snider and Foreman took over the building, eventually paying off every creditor in full. In 1974 Snider created Spectacor as a holding company for the executives that ran the Flyers and the Spectrum. The Flyers became the first NHL expansion team to win the Stanley Cup in 1974, and to repeat as champions in 1975. Snider would found or acquire several businesses during his career, most notably

504-652: The United States. The roots of the name Ovations go back to a restaurant in the Spectrum , which was located below the concourse. 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

532-479: The Year, Nostalgia Team, Lifetime Achievement, Special Achievement, and Special Recognition. • Outstanding Amateur Athlete Award - Jockey Tony Vega 1984 The awardees were honored at the PSWA's 104th Awards Dinner on January 28, 2008. The awardees were honored at the 105th Awards Dinner on January 26, 2009. The awardees were honored at the 106th Awards Dinner on February 1, 2010. The awardees were honored at

560-598: The company, giving Snider the opportunity to join Jerry Wolman (builder) and Snider's brother-in-law Earl Foreman (attorney) as they purchased the Philadelphia Eagles in 1964. Snider was given an option to purchase a 7% stake in the team and eventually served as vice president and treasurer, running the day-to-day operations of the Eagles. Upon learning that the NHL was planning to expand, Snider and Wolman made plans for

588-745: The organization until his death in 2016. In 2005, Snider created the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation to provide a means to reach inner-city children in the Philadelphia area and provide them with the opportunity to learn to play hockey. In 2014, Snider donated $ 5 million to the University of Maryland to create the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets, a part of the Robert H. Smith School of Business that educates students about capitalism, markets, and enterprise. Snider also created The Snider Foundation,

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616-558: The philosopher Leonard Peikoff to promote Rand's philosophy of Objectivism . In 1990, after a dispute between ARI and philosopher David Kelley , Snider became a backer of Kelley's rival organization, the Institute for Objectivist Studies (now known as The Atlas Society ). In 2003, Snider became a founding board member of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (now named Beyond Celiac.) He continued to support

644-642: Was a brother of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. In 2014, Snider was treated for bladder cancer . Although he announced in September 2014 that he was "cancer free", the cancer subsequently returned in 2015. After a months-long battle, Snider died on April 11, 2016, at his home in Montecito, California and was interred at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. The Flyers wore

672-588: Was also granted an expansion franchise in the AHL , the Philadelphia Phantoms . In a 1999 Philadelphia Daily News poll, Snider was selected as the city's greatest sports mover and shaker, beating out legends such as Connie Mack , Sonny Hill , Bert Bell , and Roger Penske . In 1985, Snider was one of the founding contributors of the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI), which was established by

700-445: 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

728-408: Was announced that Spectra would be merging with Oak View Group to form a full-service live events company. On November 19, 2021, Oak View Group completed the acquisition of Spectra to form a full-service live events company. Comcast Spectacor owns Ovations Food Services, which provides food and beverage services to arenas, stadiums, amphitheaters , fairgrounds and convention centers throughout

756-901: Was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. In 1999, Snider was named Philadelphia's "Greatest Mover and Shaker of the Millennium" by the Philadelphia Daily News . In 2005, Snider was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame . In 2011, Snider was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame . In 2012, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association renamed its Humanitarian Award as

784-620: Was married four times. His first marriage was to Myrna Gordon. They had four children and divorced in 1981. In 1983, he married model Martha McGeary with whom he had two children. They later divorced. In 2004, he married Belgian Christine Decroix (born 1957), a former singer for the Belgian girl-pop group the Lovelettes in the 1970s; they divorced in 2009. He married his fourth wife, Lin Spivak (born 1968), on February 14, 2013. Snider

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