With the recent ownership change in Minnesota, longtime Timberwolves chief operating officer Ryan Tanke is joining the Rockets in the same position.
With the recent ownership change in Minnesota, longtime Timberwolves chief operating officer (COO) Ryan Tanke is joining the Houston Rockets in the same position.
Keith Schubert and Chandler France of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and Houston Business Journal, respectively, first reported the news.
According to his LinkedIn page, Tanke had served as COO with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx since 2019. For the previous seven years, he was chief revenue officer with the same organizations.
Sports Business Journal has more:
Tanke takes the COO role from Gretchen Sheirr, president of business operations with the Rockets, who had been “serving in both roles concurrently.” He joins the organization with “substantial experience in arena development.”
Tanke was “part of a six-person design team who led” the $150-million renovation effort for Minnesota’s Target Center. He recently led “another eight-figure investment into the facility, which added and expanded premium spaces, among other upgrades.”
In Houston, the 23-year-old Toyota Center is reportedly in need of $635.8-million in “maintenance and upgrades” over the next 20 years.
Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is “eyeing a comprehensive modernization” after having “invested millions into the venue in recent years, including renovating premium spaces and adding a new center-hung scoreboard.”
In a self-funded, $10.5-million project, Fertitta and the Rockets will soon replace Toyota Center’s 17,000 bowl seats. The project will start by October 2025 and conclude by July 2026.
Sheirr will continue in her role as president of business operations.
Fertitta is also reportedly pursuing a WNBA expansion franchise for Houston, which could make Tanke’s history with the Lynx useful.
