why is a team's front office called front office?

Question

I heard of the expression "the team's front office" in US professional sports teams like the NBA, and I would like to know what does it exactly mean and why is it called "front" office.

Answer 1

The "Front Office" is the teams management, this is usually the owner, general manager and other executives who are involved in organization level decisions.

The term "Front Office" or "Front of the House" are the people who interact with customers, vendors and in general the public. So the front office in sports are the people who directly interact with other teams' management, the fans and other business considerations.