Peter Luukko with UMASS Comcast-Spectacor Scholarship Intern Dana Reynolds at Xfinity Live! in Philadelphia. (VT Photo)
The future is a well-funded, experience-based world of opportunity for entrepreneur Peter Luukko, who resigned Monday (Dec. 2) after 25 years with Comcast-Spectacor in Philadelphia, most recently as president and COO.
Reached at his home in West Chester, Pa., the day after his dramatic announcement, Luukko reflected on his options now and his highlights in two decades working with Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, which owns Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia; the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League; Global Spectrum private management firm; New Era and Paciolan ticketing companies; and Ovations Food Services.
Instrumental in purchasing and building all those subsidiaries, Luukko was the overseer of all but the Flyers, answering to Snider. But each company has its own president and day to day is not expected to change with Luukko’s departure.
Interviewed the day after he heard the news, which he confirmed was a surprise, Snider said the first steps to regroup are done already. “We have an executive with Comcast who had just retired and I asked him to come in as acting president while we search for whatever in the future,” Snider said, referring to Dave Scott. “We filled the CFO position with another guy I liked from Comcast. This was before yesterday. So basically it’s all pretty good right now. Dave will be acting president for as long as necessary to decide what our future structure will be.”
The very day it announced Luukko’s resignation, Comcast-Spectacor also announced that Scott, recently retired EVP and Chief Financial Officer for Comcast Cable, will serve as acting president. As Chief Financial Officer of Comcast Cable, he was responsible for the Cable Company’s financial planning and strategy, accounting, procurement and executive project management organization (EPMO) as well as oversight for the legal group.
Gary Rostick will join Comcast-Spectacor as new Chief Financial Officer. Rostick most recently was the SVP of Finance and Business Operations and CFO of Comcast Business Services.
The presidents of each subsidiary — John Page, Global Spectrum; Ken Young, Ovations Food Services; Fred Maglione, New Era Tickets; and Dave Butler, Paciolan — will report to Scott who will report to Snider. Snider is on the National Hockey League board of governors and will now seek a new alternate governor to replace Luukko.
Snider has always been more hands-on with the Philadephia Flyers, but Scott will also assume Luukko’s role with the team. “We’ll miss Peter, but we’re in good shape,” Snider said.
Snider added that he was not expecting the resignation and noted he and Luukko have had a “great relationship for a lot of years and I wish him the best in whatever it is he wants to try to do.”
They are negotiating Luukko’s exit package, which Luukko expected will be completed before the end of the year. He owns a percentage of Comcast-Spectacor Ventures, which includes Global Spectrum, Ovations Food Services, New Era and Paciolan, and Snider and the board of Comcast Spectacor have agreed to buy out his interest.
So how rich is he? “I don’t know yet. We have some negotiating to do,” Luukko said.
Both Luukko and Snider cited the opening of the $210-million, 21,000-seat Wells Fargo Center in 1996 as a highlight of their collaboration. Luukko credited Snider for seeing that entrepreneurial spirit in him early in his career, before he even knew he had it. “He saw an entrepreneur, and I’m forever grateful to Ed for that. And it’s one thing to see it, but to promote it and encourage it — some people spend their whole lives not meeting someone like that. I’m incredibly fortunate and incredibly thankful to Ed for what he’s done for me and my family.
Snider said he simply “spotted a really intelligent guy who understood the industry but, at the same time, was more than a manager. He was entrepreneurial and that’s a hard thing to find. I gave him the ball and he ran with it.”
Luukko has been pegged as Snider’s heir apparent and Snider, 81, agreed he was the “obvious choice but, if I left, it would be Comcast’s choice as to what they wanted to do. I could make a recommendation, and I would have recommended Peter, but I couldn’t tell them what to do. I have complete say while I’m with the company. After I left, it would be up to the people that own the company.”
Snider has no new plan yet. He’s taken the necessary interim steps and is now planning to regroup regarding the future.
Luukko, meanwhile, is also regrouping. In a both personal and professional Q&A in the immediate aftermath of his life-changing decision, Luukko spoke of his thought process going forward:
What brought you to make the decision to resign?
I’m at the point in my life where I’ve had an opportunity with Ed to work with others to start four great companies and certainly have enjoyed being a big part of the Philadelphia Flyers. But at 54 I think there is an opportunity for me to monetize the equity I have in those firms and kind of look for my next adventure. I feel like I have another run or two in me.
With Tim Lieweke leaving AEG for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and Scott O’Neal leaving Madison Square Garden, to name two, there seems to be a shift of CEOs in sports and entertainment? Is there something in the air?
Tim, Scott and I are all good friends and all relatively around the same age and at the same point in our careers. We’re all entrepreneurial and, at some point, it’s time to say let’s do something else, build something or be part of something. I’ve been told to keep an open mind. I had so much fun working for Ed Snider, and I want to do something that is fun.
What about the team you’ve helped build?
I love the business, but it really is all about the people. I’m leaving a lot of really good people. They were very surprised. They are good at what they do and where there is change there is opportunity so there will be a lot of opportunity for those people. Our paths will cross, that’s for sure. In this business, you need a scorecard to see where everyone is on a given day.
How many offers have you gotten since you announced your resignation?
It’s a little more interesting than I thought it would be. I’ve gotten a lot of good advice from friends and they say the first thing you do is sit back and assess what you want to do and where you’d like to go and breathe a little bit before you jump right back in. So that’s what I’m trying to do, but at the same time, if you are an entrepreneur and you see an opportunity you want, to chase it. That’s sometimes why you have to leave, because when you’re with a company, you’re never looking for opportunity for yourself, you’re looking for opportunity for your business, chasing the next account or the next deal or trying to sell tickets. Leaving gives you the opportunity to look in directions you don’t look at on any given day.
What are the parameters for your new job search?
For me, I always want to be around the industry, it’s all I’ve ever done. I do have a passion for hockey, but that’s the public part. I also have an incredible passion for what we were doing at Global, Ovations, New Era and Paciolan. That was a special team of its own for me. It’s not as public, but it was the lion’s share of what I did every day.
What about the future of the venue side of Comcast Spectacor?
From Ed’s standpoint, he’s going to figure it out. Ed’s been supportive of every business we’ve started and has always been interested. He has a passion for all of sports and entertainment. The day to day of the venue side is in great shape. I spent a lot of time coordinating the companies and going on various sales calls and dealing with issues as they came up. But there are people with each entity with a singular focus, so they won’t miss a beat.
How does your family feel about this change?
It’s a little tough at first because the kids have grown up around the Flyers and Wells Fargo Center and all the people. My son Nick is a draft choice for the Flyers. But they realize it’s a good opportunity for me to financially be in a good place. Nick is 22, Max is 18, and Dana is 20. Nick is playing hockey at the University of Vermont. He wants to play here. Max, I think, will own his own company and my daughter isn’t interested in the business. They’re excited that I’m excited and I want to do something new.
Are you open to moving?
Absolutely. Before we moved here we moved four times in my career. The kids are at an age where we can go anywhere. [Wife] Casey is from Connecticut and I’m from Massachusetts.
Have you cleaned out your desk?
Actually, Cheri Carnao cleaned it out and I have so much stuff there, we have to get a moving truck to move it out. Suits and pictures, clothes and hockey equipment, all kinds of stuff. She moved me.
What is it about 2013 that has brought on all this change?
It must be a “13.” We’ve all been in the business awhile and are looking to make that next move. I think there are tons of opportunities in the industry. There are a lot of niches now that can be filled through technology. The whole business has changed dramatically which means opportunity, including internal opportunity for young people because they’ve grown up with technology. They know how to turn it on and make it work.
Isn’t all the money with the artist and the athlete?
You need ticketing, you need food service, it’s still great. How you deliver it, market it, market the team, market the show; that’s a whole new world today. Absolutely it can be monetized because, finally, we know who our customer is. In the past, you never knew who the customer was. Seventy to 90 percent of tickets are purchased on the Internet, by people you know – you can cross market. It’s efficient and cost-effective, which is important in this world.
Is there a vacation in the offing?
I’m going to watch the boys play hockey.
Interviewed for this story: Peter Luukko, (215) 389-9530; Ed Snider, (215) 952-5915