Jerry Seltzer

Jerry Seltzer (born June 3, 1932) (also known as "The Commissioner" or just "Comish") was the second and final owner of the original Roller Derby league. The league and the sport of roller derby were created in 1935 in Chicago by Leo Seltzer, Jerry's father. Jerry assumed ownership of the league in 1959 and ran it until its demise in 1973. At one time it was on 120 television stations in the US and Canada and filled Madison Square Garden, the Oakland Coliseum (34,000, 1971) and Chicago White Sox Park (50,114, Sept 15, 1972).

In 1959, Jerry moved the operation to the San Francisco Bay Area and established the most fabled team in the history of the sport, the longtime champion San Francisco Bay Bombers. Stars included Charlie O'Connell, Joanie Weston, and Ann Calvello.

In 1970, Seltzer attempted to buy the struggling Oakland Seals hockey team. Although he put in a better offer and had a more detailed plan for reviving the franchise and had investors from 4 of the major franchises in the American Football League, a majority of National Hockey League owners (the "old establishment", not the younger owners and newer teams) voted to sell the team to Charlie O. Finley, the flamboyant owner of baseball's Oakland A's. Within two years the team failed and moved out of the Bay Area.

In the 1970s, Jerry Seltzer co-founded Bay Area Seating Service (BASS) Tickets, a San Francisco Bay Area computerized ticket service. From 1983 to 1993, he was a vice president of sales and marketing for Ticketmaster. On his return to the Bay Area he joined Bonjourfleurette.com as marketing and sales director and C.O.O. He co-founded the Sonoma Valley Film Festival (now Sonoma Filmfest) and served on a number of community boards, including the Bay Area American Red Cross, and he helped produce the 30th anniversary special for Cecil Williams Glide church.

As of mid-2010, Seltzer is currently serving as an advisor to gotdibbs.com and working as a volunteer consultant to the new amateur roller derby leagues.

Jerry said about roller derby that his father, Leo Seltzer, had always wanted roller derby to be a legitimate sport and to be in the Olympics. Jerry said that with the recent grassroots movement of roller derby, including the WFTDA, he thinks roller derby can now be an Olympic sport.

Jerry is currently starting a blog about his involvement in Roller Derby and the role his father played.