LUUKKO ON HOW A $110,000 ‘FAILURE’ BECAME A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR BOOM

Remember when finding something to do at a sports arena in the summer months required creativity and ingenuity?

In 1993, when Peter Luukko was president of the Spectrum in Philadelphia, the staff was looking for something to do in those in-between months. Hockey, basketball, and college games were over.

“We decided to do a rib festival,” Luukko remembers.

They certainly knew how to do events. They contacted some of the big rib joints in the country and got them to come in. They set up some great promotions under the leadership of Marketing Director Ike Richman. They booked some bands.

RibFest was ready to go in the parking lot at the Spectrum.

“The week we had it, the temperature never seemed to get below 100 degrees on the scorching parking lot,” Luukko said. “We lost about $50,000.”

Surprisingly, his boss, Ed Snider, was not alarmed. He thought the staff was being creative and trying hard to do something new like good entrepreneurs should.

Snider reviewed the numbers and came into Luukko’s office with this advice:

“Well, listen, it’s not going to be 100 degrees again next year, so do it again. I think it’s great what you guys are doing.”

So the next year, they do it again, same thing, but even better promotion because this is the second year. And they booked bands like Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO), a lot of good stuff.

“Then for a week we had rain and tornado warnings in the parking lot,” Luukko says with a sigh.

“Instead of losing 50 grand, we lost like 60 grand.”

Snider comes into Luukko’s office again with the report in hand.

“This thing is great, fantastic.”

“Listen, Ed, if you’re trying to fire me through a slow bleed, please just get rid of me now.”

“You don’t understand. You’re an entrepreneur. I don’t want you to ever lose that spirit.”

“Well, Ed, this isn’t the right one. No one really wants to eat ribs in our parking lot in the summer. A lot of people go to the shore here, and other than Phillies baseball we’re kind of a dead city. We’ll think of something else.”

“Really Peter, it’s great, a summer event. I think we should try again.”

“No thanks, we’re done.”

Fast forward to 1999, they’ve built Wells Fargo Center, a new arena next to the Spectrum, and they own the Sixers of the NBA and the Flyers of the NHL. The NBA and NHL playoffs come right at the opening of the baseball season and both teams are in the game.

“We’re in a meeting, and we’re talking about how traffic will be really tough,” Luukko says.

Agreeing, Richman says he’ll send out a press release telling people to come early.

“In my opinion, people don’t really listen to that; they don’t pay attention. Let’s do a Block Party.”

So, they got creative again and did a huge block party opening three hours before the games, bringing in bands, great food (including lots of ribs), and games and prizes. “I remember, we were playing the Pacers. We found an old Pacer, the car, and for $1 for charity you could hit it with a sledgehammer because that’s our opponent,” Luukko continues.

At that time Pat Croce, president of the 76ers, had shaved his head, so they offered Super Cuts; for free you could get your head shaved.

There were all sorts of great Flyers merch and gags, too.

It was a home run. Even Phillies fans came early to join the Block Party and when Dave Matthews played the stadium, those fans came, too.

“And we grossed $500,000,” Luukko said. “We were making anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 net as the years went on, to the point we even built an indoor pavilion because this was so successful.”

“So we lost $110,000 on those rib festivals, but ended up over the years making $5-$7 million.”

LESSONS LEARNED: Failures can be the root of your next success.

A parking lot in the summer in Philly wasn’t good enough. There wasn’t enough of a call to action. But the excitement of the NHL and NBA playoffs plus the opening of Major League Baseball became this hook for people to party and have fun.

“We all had in the back of our minds that we had done these outside festivals and it was really cool and a lot of fun, but we didn’t have the right hook. Now we had the hook, one of the most exciting times in Philly sports when you have three of the major league sports playing at the same time.”

“Eventually we built Xfinity Live!, 80,000 sq. ft. of bars and restaurants that crushed it year-round.”

RibFest literally led to a huge entertainment district and everything that goes with it. — Based on a true story as told to Linda Deckard

Photo: The Block Party at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, celebrating the playoffs and opening of baseball. (Courtesy of Ike Richman)