Research

I conduct research focused specifically on the areas of communication and marketing within the sport industry. My research examines the utilisation of new media by sport organisations and athletes, user-generated branding, and portrayals of athletes of differing gender, race, and nationality in all forms of media. I also serve as a research consultant to industry partners. For example, during my time at NYU, my colleagues and I partnered with Fox Sports on a large-scale project focused on generational fandom.

I completed my doctoral degree at Indiana University, where my dissertation, “Investigating agenda-setting and framing in sport magazines: An analysis of the coverage of Major League Baseball players from 2000 through 2007,” involved a quantitative and qualitative methodology examining the agenda setting and framing functions in media portrayals of Major League Baseball (MLB) players based on race and nationality. The study examined feature story articles from 2000 to 2007 in two popular U.S. sport magazines, Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine. A preview of the full text can be found on Google Books.

Since completing my Ph.D., I have published numerous studies, and in 2015 I was honoured to be named a North American Society of Sport Management (NASSM) Research Fellow, recognising my research contributions to the field of sport management. Approximately 5% of all sport management researchers have received this award.

In 2016 I co-authored a book titled Strategic Sport Communication, 2nd edition. Working with my co-authors, Drs. Paul M. Pedersen, Pamela Laucella, and Ted Kian, was a fantastic experience. We updated the book in 2020, publishing the third edition of it. The book is now being used in sport management and sport communication classrooms throughout the country. In 2019 I co-edited the book The Routledge Handbook of the Business of Women’s Sport along with my colleague Dr. Nancy Lough.

Please visit my Publications and Presentations pages for more information on my research and links to my full-text research articles.