Twins Professional Sport Experience
Date
6-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Kinesiology
First Advisor
Dr. Lana Huberty
Second Advisor
Dr. Ryan Hubbard
Third Advisor
Dr. Brenda Kehret
Abstract
For eight weeks a cohort of 12 students embarked on a pilot program with the Minnesota Twins baseball organization that encompassed the industry of sport management. This program consisted of classroom time at Target Field with over 20 guest speakers and events led by many departments throughout the organization. Each student was tasked with preparing three goals prior to starting the experience. My own personal and professional goals included improving my conceptual leadership skills, learning a new technical skill in the sports management field, and strengthening my communication skills. In an effort to improve my conceptual leadership skills, I wanted to analyze how the Twins successfully achieved cross-departmental collaboration with hands on experience and real-life examples. What I found was the leadership of the Twins enthusiastically vocalized the organizational goals throughout the entire organization. The Twins departments share a common set of goals, and all preach the President & CEO’s philosophy of, “Listen First Leadership”. In such a competitive industry as professional sports, it is no surprise when the human resources department receives anywhere from 500-1000 applications for an open, full-time position. The Twins front office employees understand how blessed they are to work in the professional sport industry and demonstrate exceptional cross-departmental collaboration to boost revenue and increase fan experience.