Sports and entertainment vendor Comcast Spectacor has restructured and brought its three divisions — Global Spectrum, Ovations Food Services and Paciolan — under one brand: Spectra.
Beginning today, Comcast Spectacor will consist of three primary businesses: the Philadelphia Flyers, the Wells Fargo Center and the new Spectra. In turn Spectra will consist of three divisions: Venue Management (formerly Global Spectrum), Food Services & Hospitality (formerly Ovations Food Services) and Ticketing & Fan Engagement (formerly Paciolan). Of course, Comcast Spectacor itself is a division of a much larger corporation: it’s part of Comcast Corporation, a Fortune 50 media and technology company that operates Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
It’s an interesting move, as the three divisions are strong in different areas, and they certainly has brand recognition in their respective fields. In baseball, Ovations Food Services is a major player, providing food and concession services to a good number of MLB and MiLB venues. Formed by Ken Young, owner of four MiLB teams (Norfolk Tides, Albuquerque Isotopes, Frederick Keys and Biloxi Shuckers), Ovations runs concessions at MLB venues like O.Co Coliseum and HoHoKam Stadium and the four ballparks where Young’s MiLB teams play, as well as venues like Banner Island Ballpark, home of the Stockton Ports.
The other two Spectra brands really aren’t major players in the baseball world: the old Global Spectrum ran AutoZone Park and the Memphis Redbirds before the St. Louis Cardinals purchased the team in 2014, while Paciolan’s ticketing systems are used mostly in the college-sports world. But this may be why you have a diversified customer base: Global Spectrum is strong in the arena and convention-center field, while Paciolan is strong in the college-venue field.
All in all, Spectra has 300-plus clients at more than 400 global properties.
“Spectra is all about creating unforgettable moments for fans,” said Dave Scott, President of Comcast Spectacor. “We can do that best with all services under one umbrella to provide end-to-end solutions for venues, redefining fan experiences everywhere.”
Image of the Oakland Dog served at HoHoKam Stadium by Ovations this spring for Oakland Athletics spring-training games.