James Pohlad (born March 10, 1953) [1] is an American businessman who is the chairman and part-owner of the Minnesota Twins of the American League. He is the son of Eloise O'Rourke Pohlad and businessman Carl Pohlad, who made the family's fortune and originally purchased the Minnesota Twins in the 1980s.
While ownership of the Twins is collectively vested in the Pohlad family, Jim is operating head of the franchise. [2]
Since Carl's death on January 5, 2009, Jim and his two brothers, Bill (a film director and producer) and Bob, inherited the Twins franchise; all three are on the team's executive board. [3] The Twins front-office directory lists the Pohlad family as a whole as the owner of the team, but Jim is the ownership group's public face, handling day-to-day operations and representing the Twins at owners meetings. This structure is roughly analogous to that of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs since the death of founding owner Lamar Hunt in 2006; ownership is vested collectively in his family, but eldest son Clark is CEO and operating head of the franchise.
On November 29, 2022, Pohlad transitioned control of the Twins to his nephew, Joe Pohlad. [4]
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities moniker for the two adjacent cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
The Minnesota Swarm was a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League who played at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 2004 until 2015. The team's previous owners who also own the NHL's Minnesota Wild purchased the rights to the inactive Montreal Express team on August 10, 2004. The name Swarm was selected over Thrill, Rush and Bullheads on October 25, 2004.
Carl Ray Pohlad was an American financier from Minnesota. Pohlad is best known as the owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise from 1984 until his death in 2009.
Calvin Robertson Griffith, born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner. As president, majority owner and de facto general manager of the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of the American League from 1955 through 1984, he orchestrated the transfer of the Senators after 60 years in Washington, D.C., to Minneapolis–Saint Paul in the autumn of 1960 to create the Twins. He was famous for his devotion to the game and for his sayings. He was the last MLB owner who had no income apart from his franchise.
Clark Knobel Hunt is an American billionaire and businessman who is chairman and CEO of the National Football League (NFL)'s Kansas City Chiefs and a founding investor-owner in Major League Soccer. Hunt is chairman of Hunt Sports Group, where he oversees the operations of the Chiefs, FC Dallas and, formerly, the Columbus Crew of MLS. He is the son of Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt and his second wife Norma Hunt, and is the grandson of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. As of 2023, he had an estimated net worth of $2 billion.
Robert Castellini is an American businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2006, he has been principal owner and managing general partner of the Cincinnati Reds, leading a group that purchased a majority share of the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise from previous CEO Carl Lindner, Jr. Castellini is the chairman of Castellini Co., a fruit and vegetable wholesaler.
Target Field is a baseball stadium in the historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Target Corporation, which is headquartered in Minneapolis. The stadium hosted the 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It has also served as the home of other local and regional baseball events.
Max Winter was a Minneapolis businessman and sport executive who helped found the Minnesota Vikings.
FanDuel Sports Network North is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as a FanDuel Sports Network affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving teams located in the Upper Midwest region, with a focus on professional and collegiate sports teams based in Minnesota.
William Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz was an American businessman. He was the principal owner and chairman of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. He was also president of the Blackhawks' parent company, the Wirtz Corporation, a diversified conglomerate headquartered in Chicago. Under Wirtz's leadership, the Chicago Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015, reversing a period of declining fan interest and on-ice performance. He oversaw Wirtz Corporation's commercial and residential real estate companies, wine and spirits distributor Breakthru Beverage Group, an insurance company, and banks in Illinois and Florida. Wirtz was also half-owner of the Blackhawks' home arena, the United Center, along with Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf. He and Reinsdorf were co-chairmen of the arena's Executive Committee.
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The club was originally founded in 1901 as the Washington Senators, and was one of the American League's eight original charter franchises. By 1903, peace was restored with agreements between the two rival baseball loops on player contract and represented member cities/teams, and the beginnings of a national championship series titled the World Series. In 1905, the team changed its official name to the Washington Nationals. The name "Nationals" would appear on the uniforms for only two seasons, and would then be replaced with the "W" logo for the next 52 years. The media often shortened the nickname to "Nats". Many fans and newspapers persisted in continuing using the previous "Senators" nickname. Over time, "Nationals" faded as a nickname, and "Senators" became dominant. Baseball guides would list the club's nickname as "Nationals or Senators", acknowledging the dual-nickname situation. After 61 years in the capital, in 1961, the Washington Senators relocated to the Twin Cities of Minnesota, to be called the Twins, being the first major league baseball team to use a state in its geographical identifier name rather than the traditional city; Washington would get a new incarnation of the Senators to fill the void left by the original team's move.
The 2010 Minnesota Twins season was the 50th season for the franchise in Minnesota, and the 110th overall in the American League.
Bill Pohlad is an American film producer and director. He is the son of Mary Eloise (O'Rourke) and billionaire financier Carl Pohlad, who owned the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise from 1984 until his death in 2009. He has two brothers: Jim Pohlad, who took over as the team's principal owner upon their father's death; and Bob Pohlad, owner of NorthMarq Capital.
Howard Tall Fox Jr. was an American Major League Baseball front office executive. He was a member of the Minnesota Twins organization for more than 60 years, and served as president of the club in 1985 and 1986, following its sale by longtime owner Calvin Griffith to Carl Pohlad.
Michael Lynn III was an American football general manager and executive. He served as the general manager of the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings from 1975 to 1990.
Henry Gabriel Murphy was an American businessman, sportsman and Major League Baseball club owner. From June 1950 through April 1984, he was a minority stockholder in the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of the American League. After October 1955, Murphy became the largest individual shareholder in the team, although he never gained majority control.
Thelma Mae Griffith Haynes was a Canadian–American club owner (1955–84) in Major League Baseball.
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Vikings have been owned by Zygi Wilf since 2005. He purchased the team from Red McCombs, who had owned it since 1998. Between 1960 and 1998, the Vikings were owned by various syndicates. From 1984 to 1991, control of the team was fought over by two ownership groups - one led by Carl Pohlad and Irwin L. Jacobs and the other by general manager Mike Lynn.
Eloise O'Rourke Pohlad was an American benefactor of many charities in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.