Dave St. Peter's Meteoric Rise and How to Get a Job in Sports

On Monday, Dave St. Peter was kind enough to speak about his rapid ascension through the Twins front office and his career at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN. Now, this was a very cool opportunity. St. Peter’s late father, Dom, was a 1954 graduate of Saint John’s, making this opportunity for St. Peter to speak extra special.

For those of you who don’t know, I am a sophomore at Saint John’s. As a lifelong Twins fan and someone who aspires to have a job in professional sports some day, I knew this speech would be very inspiring and educational to me. 

For those of you who also want to work in sports, or even if you are wondering just how St. Peter went from intern to CEO in only twelve years, I have a few main takeaways from this speech.

1. Be willing to put yourself out there and create a portfolio

Growing up, St. Peter was a kid who knew he loved sports. He was always obsessing over statistics and was a sports fan no matter what the season was. He credited his father for passing the love of sports on to him.

St. Peter admitted that he was by no means a star athlete as a youngster. He played American Legion Baseball but was cut his junior year, motivating him to work harder.

He said he knew he wanted to work in professional sports and saw his path to doing so through the business world. So when he got to the University of North Dakota he decided to get a student job in the UND Sports Information Department and worked there for three years, covering various sports extensively. Additionally, he wrote for the UND student newspaper and was an aide for the Grand Forks Herald.

After doing all of these things, St. Peter knew he wanted a career in professional sports. However, being from Bismarck, ND, he did not have any local professional teams he could cover. So, in 1989 after college, he moved to the Twin Cities and lived with his sister in hopes of finding a job with one of the local sports teams.

One thing St. Peter had going well for him before applying for internships was that he had a great “portfolio”. At his speech, he told us that if any of us want to work in pro sports, we should build a portfolio. By portfolio, he meant a bunch of examples of your work that you could show to potential employers that showcase your skills and why you should be the one getting the internship. This could include projects, writing, even contributing on sites such as Twins Daily. It is important to put yourself out there, be confident, create a portfolio, and publish your work.

St. Peter applied for an internship with the Twins. Denied. He applied for an internship with the Vikings. Denied. He even applied for an internship with the new expansion NBA team in town, the Timberwolves. Denied. Finally, he was accepted on an internship to work for the Minnesota North Stars. After six months with the North Stars, he got an internship with the Twins.

2. Be flexible in what type of job you take

In 2015, St. Peter said “When I started working in sports, if I had to pick one, I probably would have picked baseball. But I wasn’t at a point where I could be picky, I had to be broad. I was open to basketball, football, baseball, even the minor leagues, and certainly hockey.”

There are a lot of people throughout the country who want to work in sports. With a high demand for jobs in sports, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get to choose what job you want. St. Peter knew that hockey wasn’t his favorite sport, but he knew if that was his only opportunity to work in sports, so be it.

Additionally, people in sports have connections. It is likely that employees with the Twins know employees with the Vikings, employees with the Vikings know employees with the Timberwolves, etc. Below is a photo of St. Peter, Vikings GM Rick Spielman, Timberwolves President Chris Wright, Minnesota United President Nick Rogers, and Wild Chief Operating Officer Matt Majka at a community event in 2017.

Even if you are offered a job that is not your first option, have a positive attitude and show your skills in that job because you never know what connections you may make. St. Peter’s first job with the Twins was managing a team pro shop. He said he wasn’t all that thrilled about working in retail but he knew he wanted to work in baseball so he kept a positive attitude and learned many valuable skills in this position including how to hire people, fire people, and deal with customers.

3. Be Patient

Things won’t always go your way in the sports industry. That’s fine. St. Peter was turned down numerous times before he ultimately got a job in sports and worked his way up to Twins President of Baseball Operations. Recent World Series winning manager Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves has been a coach in the Braves system since 1982 and wasn’t named manager of the major league squad until 2016. Patience pays off.

Conclusion

Dave St. Peter being generous enough to come up to a college in the middle of November and speak to a bunch of college students shows why he has been so successful in his job. He understands the importance of giving back to the community that has supported his team so greatly over the years. He got to the top of the Twins organization not only because of his extensive baseball knowledge, but because he treats people right. 

If you want to work in sports, put your name out there, create a portfolio to showcase your work, be flexible, be patient, and treat people the right way. 

Thank you for reading, and Go Twins!