CHASING THE DREAM JOB 1

Chasing the Dream Job:

The Road to Director of Finance for a Professional Sports Team

Dakota Marriott

The University of Kansas

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For as long as Ive been alive, sports have been a massive part of my life. Rather than my

childhood being filled with coloring books and Legos, I spent my days playing catch in the yard

with my dad and shooting baskets in the driveway with my mom. Instead of family trips to the

zoo and amusement parks, we made our way to the stadiums to watch the Chiefs and Royals

play. As fate would have it, at only four-years-old, I was gearing up for my first official tee-ball

game, and by the time I was nine, I was participating in one of three sports year-round. This

cycle continued until I graduated from high-school. At that point, I realized Id never known a

life without sports and I had no intentions to change that. Therefore, I took off for college with

plans to combine my passion for sports with my acquired expertise in mathematics to pursue a

degree in sport management with hopes to one day become the director of finance for a

professional sports organization.

Ive quickly learned that sport management majors are repeatedly told the same two

things a million times over: 1.) they are preparing to enter a highly competitive field with

extremely low starting pay, and 2.) making connections in the industry is by far the most

important aspect of landing ones dream job. In response to these claims, some shy away from

the challenge in fear that they either dont yet have a valuable connection in the industry, or

dont find the risk to be worth the reward. However, those who accept the challenge will be

granted the opportunity to pursue a career in sports unlike any other. In fact, The bachelor's

degree in Sport Management prepares students to work in professional athletics, intercollegiate

athletics, as well as other sport and health-related organizations. Students who graduate with a

Bachelors degree in Sport Management from the University of Kansas will prepare for positions

in a field that continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States. Graduates
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have left KU to serve in a variety of positions within the sporting industry and related fields

(Department of Health, Sport, & Exercise Science, 2017).

However, the competitive nature of this industry truly isnt something to take lightly. In

fact, when All Business Schools, an online database of schools, degrees, programs, and career

resources, was asked to respond to how much competition sport management majors face in the

industry, they replied, A lot! Because of the ratio of sport management jobs to applicants,

competition will be fierce for employment within the industry. Youll find yourself in the ring

with business majors, communications majors and law students all vying for the chance to have a

sporting life (All Business Schools, 2016). Therefore, the pressure falls heavily on my shoulders

to reach out, make the crucial connections, and continue to perform at a high level both in the

classroom and in the workplace if I have any plans to separate myself from the rest of the pack.

Attempting to do exactly that, I reached out to the Kansas City Royals former director of

finance, Adam Tyhurst, hoping for the opportunity to sit down with him, and learn more about

exactly what I was getting myself into. Fortunately, he agreed; and on Friday, October 27, I

found myself face-to-face across the table from a man who held the position that I strive to one

day hold myself. To get the most out of my time with Mr. Tyhurst, I broke down my questions

into three categories: the journey, the destination, and communication in the workplace. As he

gave detailed responses, I frantically attempted to balance my note taking with eye-contact to

ensure I didnt miss anything.

The journey questions applied to the path Tyhurst and others have taken to reach such

elevated roles in the sport industry. In this section, I learned that Tyhursts path was a rather

unusual one in comparison to that of others. Typically, a recent graduate would take an entry

level position in ticket sales, and expect to earn between $35,000 and $42,000 annually (King,
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2012). After years of experience, they can expect to slowly work their way up the ranks with

advancement opportunities either with the same team, or move great distances to capitalize on

opportunities with new teams. However, upon graduating with an accounting degree from the

University of Missouri-Kansas City and becoming a certified public accountant (CPA), Tyhurst

began working as an accountant for KPMG one of the Big Four auditors. The company was

founded in 1987, and uses its nearly 190,000 employees to bring in a massive $25.42 billion in

revenue (KPMG, 2017). Although one of KPMGs many responsibilities included doing the

Royals taxes, Tyhurst surprisingly says he never had any specific eye on working in the sport

industry until his former boss at KPMG took the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) position with the

Royals. It wasnt long after that that the Director of Finance position opened up with the team a

position that, according to the Sports Business Journal, earns an average salary of over $167,000

(King, 2012). Tyhursts name was quickly thrown in the hat by his former boss and new CFO as

a result of his work ethic, performance, and experience. Two weeks later, following an interview,

there was a new director of finance by the familiar name of Adam Tyhurst.

The destination questions focused specifically on Tyhursts time with the Royals, and

what it was like working in the sport industry. During these questions, I learned that, ultimately,

the job comes down to one thing: overseeing all accounting operations. Although this sounds

rather simple, the reality of it is anything but that. Tyhurst directed a team of four highly-skilled

accountants who were in charge of balancing every transaction that came in and out of the

stadium. These transactions would vary greatly depending on the time of year; but the workload

was always heavy. In fact, Tyhurst claimed that he and his team would balance approximately

4.5 million transactions per year. These transactions covered everything from expenses such as

player contracts and team travel to revenue such as parking and merchandise sales. While the
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day-to-day processes are deadline-driven and can be extremely stressful, working for a

professional franchise has its fair share of benefits, to say the least. Among those, Tyhurst says,

was having an office directly in the stadium, and taking quiet, peaceful walks around the

concourse that becomes electrified on gameday. Its a constant reminder to stay hungry and

motivated, he says. Yet the massive, diamond world series ring showcased proudly on his finger

would surely be enough to motivate anybody. However, just as there are perks, every job has its

setbacks as well. According to Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the Chicago

Cubs, Whoever your boss is, they have 20% of their job that they just dont like. So, if you can

figure out what that 20% is, and figure out a way to do it for them, youll make them happy,

improve their quality of life, and improve their overall work experience (Ward, 2017). Upon

reading this to Mr. Tyhurst, he knew his 20% without hesitation. He claimed it to be a

combination of the politics of decision-making and anything else that doesnt add value to the

organization. Being that he and I are like-minded people who strive to add value and make an

impact while performing at a high level, these are setbacks that I should anticipate and prepare

for, as it is likely I will run into similar issues upon reaching my desired destination.

Finally, we focused on communication in the workplace. Here, I found that even in a

position such as this, public speaking and professional communication never go away. In fact,

according to Tyhurst, of all the classes he took in college, the class that has proven to be the most

beneficial to him as a professional in the industry was advanced public speaking. During his time

with the Royals, Tyhurst was expected to deliver presentations four-to-six times annually.

During these presentations, he was responsible for delivering financial results to groups of 15-20

people, including both his peers in other departments and his superiors. Over time, he found that

PowerPoints didnt work well for him. Instead, he preferred to distribute an outline of what he
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called power hitters and use them to speak directly from his experience and what he knew. He

felt that this way, his presentations were much more comfortable, natural, and productive.

Nonetheless, as always, overpreparing was better than underpreparing. Even in daily

communication, Tyhurst prefers this more natural and personable style. In fact, he only uses

email as a last resort. Instead, when possible, he prefers to go directly to whomever he needs to

talk to even for just a simple question because emails can easily become paralyzing, as he

puts it. Ultimately, Tyhurst believes that face-to-face communication is key to success

especially in the sports world because those who cant form close, personable relationships

wont last. Plain and simple.

In all, despite having what I believed to be a firm understanding of the industry, I came

out of my meeting with Mr. Tyhurst far more knowledgeable than I went in. Throughout our

time together, he provided me with valuable insight and expertise that I would not have had the

luxury of finding anywhere else. By combining this knowledge with my background research

and capability to continue using Mr. Tyhurst as a mentor moving forward, I believe that I have

provided myself a competitive advantage moving forward in this highly competitive industry.
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References

All Business Schools (Ed.). (2016, March). Sports Management Salary. Retrieved November 06,

2017, from https://www.allbusinessschools.com/sports-management/salary/

Department of Health, Sport, & Exercise Science. (2017, March 08). After Graduation | Sport

Management. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://hses.ku.edu/academics/sport-

management/bachelors-degree/after-graduation

King, B. (2012, August 13). What's the payoff in sports? Retrieved November 06, 2017, from

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/08/13/In-Depth/Salary-

survey.aspx

KPMG International. (2017). Retrieved November 06, 2017, from

https://home.kpmg.com/us/en/home.html

Marriott, Dakota. Personal Interview. 27 October 2017.

Ward, M. (2017, January 24). Theo Epstein's 20% Rule. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/19/theo-epstein-of-the-cubs-shares-his-20-percent-rule-

for-getting-ahead.html