Luukko Named President/COO of Comcast-Spectacor

7/11/2005

“Over the past five years, Comcast-Spectacor has grown into a nationally recognized leader in sports and entertainment,” said Snider. “Peter is one of the most dynamic individuals in the industry and naming him as President of our company is a no-brainer.”

In his new role, Luukko will oversee the day-to-day operations of Comcast-Spectacor Ventures as well as maintain his title of Chairman of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field. Comcast-Spectacor Ventures includes, in addition to Global Spectrum, the company’s concession company, Ovations Food Services, and the company’s full-service ticketing firm, New Era Tickets. Comcast-Spectacor also owns three minor league affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles and two Philadelphia arenas - The Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum. In addition, Luukko will assist Ed Snider in overseeing the Philadelphia Flyers and the Philadelphia 76ers.

“I’ve learned a lot from Ed Snider in the past 20 years,” said Luukko. “He has been a tremendous mentor and a terrific supporter. I look forward to my new operational responsibilities and working side-by-side with my fellow members of the Office of the Chair (consisting of CEO Ed Snider, Vice Chairman Fred Shabel, Executive Vice President and CFO Sandy Lipstein and Executive Vice President and General Counsel Phil Weinberg). We will work to create new business opportunities for Comcast-Spectacor in all aspects of facility management, sports ownership and operation, food and concessions, as well as consulting in those same fields.”

Luukko’s extensive sports management career began in l984 after parlaying an internship at the New Haven Coliseum into the Director of Marketing for the facility. He later joined the Providence Civic Center as the facility’s assistant general manager. In l985 Luukko joined Spectacor Management Group (SMG), at the time owned in part by Snider, and soon became Vice President of SMG's Western Region and facility manager for SMG’s Los Angeles Coliseum and Sports Arena. During that time, he was credited for greatly improving the facilities’ reputation. In addition, he had spent time overseeing other SMG facilities.

In 1993, Luukko left SMG to become President of the Spectrum. In the following years he became responsible for managing Comcast-Spectacor’s growing interests, and helped the company into a nationally recognized leader in sports and entertainment with the acquisition of Globe Facility Services in 2000. After renaming the company Global Spectrum, the public assembly management firm grew from seven facilities in 2000 to just over 45 facilities in 2005. Additionally in 2000, Comcast-Spectacor acquired Leisure Food Services and renamed the company Ovations Food Services. Comcast-Spectacor made a significant investment into ticketing technology company, Paciolan and implored their technology to create a full-service ticketing company, New Era Tickets in 2004.

Under Luukko’s leadership, Comcast-Spectacor helped Philadelphia garner national attention and awareness by attracting the 2002 NBA All-Star Weekend, the 2001 NCAA Men's East Regionals, the 2001 and 2002 X Games, the 2000 NCAA Women's Final Four and the 2000 Republican National Convention, and numerous other sports and entertainment events to the City of Philadelphia.

A recognized leader in the facility management industry, Luukko was the 2000 recipient of the City of Hope’s Tri-State Labor Award. He also received the 2002 prestigious Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Sports Management Program of the University of Massachusetts for his accomplishments in the field of sports management.

Luukko actively serves on the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Philadelphia Sports Congress, Paciolan Technologies, as well as the Battleship New Jersey Museum.

He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He and his wife, Casey, along with their children, Nick, Dana and Max, reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.