22 Facts About Ed Snider

Edward Malcolm Snider was an American business executive.

Ed Snider was the chairman of Comcast Spectacor, a Philadelphia-based sports and entertainment company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League; the Wells Fargo Center; the regional sports network Comcast SportsNet; and Global Spectrum, an international facilities management company.

Ed Snider formerly owned the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, and ran the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League for a few years in the 1960s.

Ed Snider was born to a Jewish family in the Washington, DC region, the son of a grocery-store chain owner.

Ed Snider attended the University of Maryland and earned his bachelor's degree in accounting.

Ed Snider became the majority owner of the Flyers and Wolman became sole owner of the Spectrum.

In 1974 Ed Snider created Spectacor as a holding company for the executives that ran the Flyers and the Spectrum.

Ed Snider would found or acquire several businesses during his career, most notably a regional premium cable channel, PRISM, and the first all-sports radio station, WIP.

However, Ed Snider remained chairman of the venture, retaining a minority interest.

In 1985, Ed Snider was one of the founding contributors of the Ayn Rand Institute, which was established by the philosopher Leonard Peikoff to promote Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.

In 1990, after a dispute between ARI and philosopher David Kelley, Ed Snider became a backer of Kelley's rival organization, the Institute for Objectivist Studies.

Ed Snider created The Ed Snider Foundation, a charitable family foundation, which continues to operate after his death.

In 1988, Ed Snider was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 1989, Ed Snider was inducted into the Philadelphia Flyers Hall of Fame alongside Keith Allen and Bill Barber.

In 1997, Ed Snider was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1999, Ed Snider was named Philadelphia's "Greatest Mover and Shaker of the Millennium" by the Philadelphia Daily News.

In 2005, Ed Snider was inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2011, Ed Snider was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

In 2012, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association renamed its Humanitarian Award as the Ed Snider Lifetime Distinguished Humanitarian Award, with Ed Snider as the first recipient of the newly named award.

Ed Snider had 15 grandchildren at the time of his death.

Jay Ed Snider served as president of the Philadelphia Flyers from 1983 to 1994, and president of Spectacor, Inc from 1987 to 94.

Ed Snider was a brother of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity.