Ed Snider: Timeline
1933: Ed Snider is born on January 6 in Washington, D.C.
1955: Ed Snider graduates from the University of Maryland; earns his CPA and with a partner launches Edge Ltd., a wholesale record distributor.
1958: Ed Snider co-founded the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) which is now known as the Music Business Association.
1964: Ed Snider becomes vice president of the Philadelphia Eagles and moves to Philadelphia.
1966: Ed Snider mortgages his home to acquire the franchise rights and create the Philadelphia Flyers. The National Hockey League awards Philadelphia an expansion franchise on February 9.
1967: Flyers play their first game ever at the Spectrum, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins.
1971: Ed Snider joins the boards at St. Luke’s and Children’s Medical Center and PARC.
1972: Ed Snider takes control of the Spectrum, using his own financing, and buys the arena out of bankruptcy.
1974: Flyers become the first expansion team to win the coveted Stanley Cup.
1975: Flyers win their second Stanley Cup. Ed Snider hosts the Western Hemisphere debut of ballet greats Valery and Galina Panov at the Spectrum with all proceeds donated to Soviet Jewry.
1976: Ed Snider launches PRISM, the nation’s first 24-hour regional cable network to combine in-home sports and movies, with 20th Century Fox. He joins the board of the Police Athletic League.
1977: Ed Snider creates Spectacor Management Incorporated, leveraging his knowledge and expertise in sports and entertainment to launch a new industry.
1980: Ed Snider is the recipient of the prestigious Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States.
1984: Spectacor and Ed Snider sell PRISM to the Washington Post Company and Cablevision.
1985: Ed Snider endows the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Research Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in honor of his father; receives an honorary degree from Hahnemann University; is named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame; becomes the founder of the Ayn Rand Institute.
1986: Ed Snider receives the second annual Irvin Feld Humanitarian Award presented by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
1987: Spectacor purchases WIP Radio and creates one of the nation’s first all-sports radio stations.
1988: Ed Snider is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame; he merges Spectacor Management with the ownership of Hyatt Corporate to create Spectacor Management Group (SMG).
1991: Aramark joins the SMG ownership group.
1993: Ed Snider sells WIP Radio to Infinity Broadcasting (which later merges with CBS).
1996: Comcast Spectacor, a joint venture between Ed Snider and Comcast Corporation, is created to manage the acquisition of the Philadelphia 76ers, and to take ownership of the CoreStates Center (now Wells Fargo Center) and the Philadelphia Flyers; Comcast Spectacor announces a new, 24-hour regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet.
1997: Ed Snider sells his interest in SMG to his partners.
1999: Philadelphia Daily News names Ed Snider Philadelphia’s Greatest Mover and Shaker of the Millennium; Ed Snider receives an honorary degree from Thomas Jefferson University.
2000: Ed Snider leads Comcast Spectacor in the purchase of Globe Facility Services, Inc. and renames the firm Global Spectrum-Global Spectrum becomes the venue management division of Comcast Spectacor; Comcast Spectacor partners with Leisure and Recreation Services, Inc. to form a new venture named Ovations Food Services which provides concession and fine dining services.
2003: Ed Snider adds ticketing capability to Comcast Spectacor with an investment in an automated ticketing company called Paciolan and uses its platform to launch New Era Tickets.
2005: Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is formed to provide disadvantaged children from urban neighborhoods with the opportunity to learn to play ice hockey and pursue supplemental educational services that will help them succeed in the game of life. Ed Snider receives the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s William Penn Award and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to Americans of all ethnic backgrounds who have made significant contributions to society.
2009: Ed Snider and Comcast Spectacor close the Spectrum on October 31.
2010: Comcast Spectacor purchases Paciolan from TicketMaster.
2011: Ed Snider leads Comcast Spectacor in the sale of the Philadelphia 76ers; is inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame; is the executive producer of the film Atlas Shrugged: Part I.
2012: Ed Snider’s vision for the Philadelphia Sports Complex expands when Comcast Spectacor partners with Cordish Companies to open XFINITY Live!, a new dining and entertainment district. Ed Snider is recognized with two honors from SportsBusiness Journal – The Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business award and Top 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business.
2013: Ed Snider hires Dave Scott, a former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Comcast Cable, as president of Comcast Spectacor.
2014: Ed Snider and the Snider Foundation fund the formation of the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets at the University of Maryland.
2015: The Philadelphia Business Journal names Ed Snider Philanthropist of the Year in recognition of the work of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. Ed Snider also receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Sports Summit.