Comcast Spectacor
Blair Listino
Chief Financial Officer, Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center, Comcast Spectacor
Born: Greeley, Colo.
Education: University of Colorado, B.A., accounting and finance emphasis with an application in international business; CPA license in California and Colorado
A career in chemical engineering might have been in the cards for Blair Listino, now the chief financial officer for the Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center. But after Listino took an engineering projects class in the early 2000s, she learned that she cared more about managing the finances and people than the product being built.
“I knew that business was the way I wanted to go,” she said.
Listino, whose father is also a CPA, was more familiar with accounting and finance, so she took a job after graduation at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Denver office before moving to San Francisco, working on audit assignments in the oil and gas industry, the nonprofit space and other industries.
She joined Comcast’s global audit group in January 2011 and applied for a controller position with Comcast Spectacor three years later. Recently, Listino spearheaded the multiyear $300 million transformation project of the Wells Fargo Center, keeping key stakeholders on budget while playing a central role in the company’s growing sports footprint, including the purchase of an Overwatch League franchise.
As someone with a nontraditional pedigree, Listino advised others of the importance of networking in order to break into sports.“Don’t be afraid to take a role where your expertise lies,” she said, “but then be willing to move laterally throughout the company to get to a role you’re truly passionate about.”— Mark J. Burns
More about Blair Listino
Biggest work/life adjustment in quarantine: Working from home has been a huge adjustment, especially with two children under the age of 4. Instead of working from our home, I walk out to our “shed” where I have set up shop. … My husband spruced up the shed with a new paint job.
Guilty pleasure: Opening up a nice bottle of wine on a weeknight for no reason.
Attribute I look for when hiring: Innovation. Innovation is a harder skill set to find in the accounting and finance world. If someone has a good finance foundation and the ability to think “bigger,” I want them on my team.
Woman in sports business I’d most like to meet: Michele Roberts, executive director of the NBPA. I love that a woman is negotiating on behalf of the NBA [men’s] salary.
I wish I’d known at my career’s start: Say what you think. So many times I sat in meetings and didn’t speak up. If you are in the meeting, your opinion matters. Say what everyone is thinking, but are too afraid to say.
