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No. 71
Peter Luukko
President/COO
Global Spectrum chairman
Comcast-Spectacor
Live and Direct
Peter Luukko is like James Dolan (see No. 81) — except on a national level. Twenty million tickets sold is a lot of tickets, by anyone’s count. And in addition to his role as president/COO of Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment firm Comcast-Spectacor, Peter Luukko serves as chairman of the company’s facility management division, Global Spectrum, which oversees approximately 100 venues across North America. The company has scores of major facilities in all sorts of markets. How they do business in ticketing, booking talent/entertainment, marketing/naming rights and sponsorships and database marketing falls under his purview. He also has a significant ticket operation going in Paciolan and New Era Tickets that is competing heavily with Ticketmaster (as part of a Department of Justice ruling). Part of his daily responsibilities at Comcast-Spectacor-owner of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and the city’s Wells Fargo Center (ranked 10th on Billboard’s top-grossing arenas of 2011)-is to find new business opportunities in facility management, sports ownership and operation, and concessions. Comcast-Spectacor also counts ticketing companies Paciolan and New Era among its assets. “From a facility standpoint, the opportunities are fantastic,” Luukko told Billboard. “For the first time in probably 35 years there’s great competition out there.” Luukko recently hired Brock Jones from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena as a national talent buyer and booker, which signifies that Comcast-Spectacor will be more aggressive in the buildings buying the talent and taking the risk, which makes them very large talent buyer/promoter across North America. With 30 years under his belt, Luukko is also one of the most respected arena guys in North America-his take matters to all touring professionals. Upon the acquisition, Luukko promised that Comcast-Spectacor would actively bid on ticketing contracts. “Paciolan has a strong niche in the collegiate market and performing arts centers, and we’re in varied types of venues,” he said. “So, we’re going to continue to blanket the marketplace and compete for contracts as they expire.”
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