WE NEED HIM BACK: The Owner of philadelphia Flyers, Comcast Spectacor, announced to sell the team
WE NEED HIM BACK: The Owner of philadelphia Flyers, Comcast Spectacor, announced to sell the team
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Dan Hilferty will succeed Dave Scott as chairman of Comcast Spectacor, the parent corporation of the Philadelphia Flyers, upon Scott’s retirement.
Recently appointed CEO of Comcast Spectacor, Hilferty will take over from Scott as the company’s chairman on April 17 and as the team’s governor on July 1.
Since taking over as head of Comcast Sports in December 2013, Scott has not had the best season for the Flyers. Their three-year streak of missing the playoffs will continue, and they haven’t taken home the Stanley Cup since 1975.
“To continuously compete for the Stanley Cup will be our number one goal for the Flyers,” Hilferty declared. “We are optimistic that we are moving in the correct direction with Coach Tortorella, our upcoming hiring of a President of Hockey Operations, and Danny Briere as interim general manager. It will be a process that takes time to get on that route. Our management team is committed to making the sports complex the greatest place in the country for sports and entertainment, and they will work tirelessly to do this for our supporters.
In his capacity as Comcast Spectacor’s Chairman and CEO, Hilferty will oversee the whole organization, which includes the Philadelphia Flyers. CEO of Spectacor Sports and Entertainment Valerie Camillo will continue to collaborate closely with Hilferty, managing the business operations of the Flyers and supervising the Wells Fargo Center, including its ongoing transformation.
It didn’t take a genius to predict what would happen after Comcast Spectacor appointed Dan Hilferty as its chief executive officer last month: the announcement that Hilferty would take over as chairman and governor of the Flyers in place of the retiring Dave Scott on Monday morning. This was not an act of vandalism. The whole 200 feet by 85 feet of the Wells Fargo Center ice surface as well as three of the Comcast Tower’s sides were covered in this incredible spray paint job.
The task that lies ahead of Hilferty will be far from easy, but his objective here is not. As the former president of Independence Blue Cross and the coordinator for Philadelphia’s victorious World Cup bid, Hilferty has solidified and cemented his standing as a problem-solver, mover, and shaker. The Flyers need a civic fixer just as much as they need to rebuild the club that plays on the ice, which makes that final duty his most crucial in this new one.
SEE ALSO: Comcast Flyers governor Dave Scott will retire, according to Spectacor.
Despite all of his well-meaning efforts and the steps he took to adjust to the fact that he wasn’t a “hockey guy” (you can criticize him for selecting the incorrect advisors, but at least he realized he needed help), Scott had come to represent a company that had lost its way and was unsure of how to turn things around. For years, there has been a poisonous mix of apathy and rage surrounding the Flyers. People had grown tired of them, and those who did were upset with them for reasons that extended beyond the poor play on the ice.
