Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E), and The Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing | Baylor University
Waco, TX, UNITED STATES
A leading sports marketing expert, Kirk Wakefield researches what fans think, feel and do for pro sports franchises
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Biography
Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., is The Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing at Baylor University, where he is the Executive Director of the Curb Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) program in the Hankamer School of Business.
The author of Team Sports Marketing and founder of Wakefield Research Partners, Wakefield’s research in retailing covering more than two decades focuses primarily upon sports psychology, team sports marketing, entertainment marketing and fan and consumer response to pricing and promotional tools in nearly every venue in sports, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, NHL and NASCAR. Wakefield is a regular contributor to Sports Money on Forbes.com and is called upon by national media outlets for his insight on fan engagement and the business of sports.
In addition to his media appearances, Wakefield’s scholarly works appear in a breadth of journals: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research and Journal of Sport Management, among others. His consulting work includes sponsorship metrics on what fans think, feel and do for a wide variety of professional sports franchises and global brands sponsorship impact on what fans think, feel and do.. His Teams Sports Marketing textbook is widely used in universities nationwide.
Areas of Expertise (7)
sports betting
Fan and Consumer Response to Pricing and Promotional Tools
Entertainment Marketing
Team Sports Marketing
Sports Psychology
Sports Branding
Sports Marketing
Education (3)
Saint Louis University: Ph.D., Business Administration 1991
Southwest Baptist University: B.A., Business Administration 1980
Baylor University: M.B.A., Business Administration 1981
Affiliations (3)
- CRM Steering Committee, SEAT Consortium
- Academy of Marketing Science
- American Marketing Assocation
Links (4)
Media Appearances (15)
Americans Unite! Watch The Olympics. Be Happy. Forget Politics.
Forbes.com online
2024-07-10
With the country divided on a myriad of topics from politics to climate change, can anything bring us together in happiness? Kirk Wakefield writes that the Olympics can.
The Big 12 needs more money, fast. Is Allstate or private equity investment a good fix?
The New York Times/The Athletic online
2024-06-14
Kirk Wakefield offers insight about the Big 12 Conference considering both a sponsorship deal with Allstate Insurance and a $1 billion private equity partnership in an effort to quickly raise more money.
MLS Teams Up With Apple, IHG, Audi & CELSIUS To Reach Young Fans IRL
Forbes.com online
2024-04-02
Kirk Wakefield writes about what are brands doing with Major League Soccer to reach fans IRL (in real life).
Big Brands Like Apple Buy The MLS Pitch: Our Soccer Is Calling
Forbes.com online
2024-03-08
When the world’s most valuable brand puts so much or so many Apples in the MLS basket, other brands take notice, writes Kirk Wakefield.
Wagering on March Madness likely to break record amid sports betting wave
Washington Examiner
2024-03-21
As sports betting becomes legal in more states every year, March Madness will likely beat its previous records with the 2024 men’s and women’s tournaments. Kirk Wakefield said in general, since the time of the pandemic, overall attention to sports and engagement with fans has been growing.
Why Conservatives And Liberals Should Green Light “Green” Sports And Entertainment Venues
Forbes online
2022-10-17
Kirk Wakefield writes about the intersection of sports, entertainment and sustainability becoming the nexus for future profitability as venues prioritize sustainability efforts, including ESG issues.
PepsiCo Partnerships Play The Long Game To Inspire Women In Sports
Forbes online
2022-09-01
Kirk Wakefield writes about PepsiCo’s Gatorade, Pepsi Max and Lay’s playing the long game to pave the way for female participation in sports at all levels, particularly women playing, refereeing and coaching.
NFL Super Bowl Sponsors Were In The Game, But Did Fans Notice?
Forbes online
2022-02-21
Kirk Wakefield breaks down a national poll conducted among NFL fans after the 2022 Super Bowl about the impact of TV and on-field sponsorships on brands.
How the NBA jersey patch became a billboard for advertisers
Market Place online
2021-09-24
Kirk Wakefield was interviewed about the use of jersey patches for advertising in sporting events.
A combined Final Four? Gender equity report calls for it
Associated Press online
2021-08-03
Kirk Wakefield comments on why a combined Final Four makes sense based on his research of fan behavior.
Why Brands Love Sports: Fans Are Innovative, Progressive, Social, Upscale and Diverse
Forbes online
2021-07-23
Kirk Wakefield discusses why brands like AdventHealth and Bud Light love Tampa Bay Lightning fans for the same reasons sponsors love home team fans everywhere: It pays off.
Why Do Sponsors Love Sports Fans? Start With An Openness To Gambling, Sharing Opinions And Buying From Ads
Forbes online
2021-07-14
Kirk Wakefield shares insight into the behavior of sports fans, including the marketing strategies employed by companies that directly benefit from this fan behavior.
Why Home Team Fans Are So Valuable To Sponsors
Forbes online
2021-07-07
Kirk Wakefield breaks down a large-scale study of sports fans compared to the national population that reveals significant differences that help explain why brands flock to sports sponsorships and programming.
Baylor Connections: Kirk Wakefield
Baylor Connections online
2020-08-14
Kirk Wakefield is a guest on the Baylor Connections podcast, analyzing how teams at both the professional and collegiate levels navigate change, engage fans and work to make the best of uncertain times.
Poll: NFL Fans Prefer Players Stand, But OK With Kneeling
Forbes online
2020-07-27
Kirk Wakefield shares poll results which reveal NFL fans’ opinions of players kneeling and gives his expert opinion on the lasting effects of kneeling.
Articles (6)
How intergroup counter-empathy drives media consumption and engagement
Internet ResearchRobin L. Wakefield, Kirk Wakefield
2023-07-04
Social media is replete with malicious and unempathetic rhetoric yet few studies explain why these emotions are publicly dispersed. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the intergroup counter-empathic response called schadenfreude originates and how it prompts media consumption and engagement.
The antecedents and consequences of intergroup affective polarisation on social media
Information Systems JournalRobin L. Wakefield, Kirk Wakefield
2022-11-20
Social media platforms enable like-minded users to form online groups, interact and thereby contribute to ideological polarisation. However, online groups also polarise along a continuum of liking or affect for their group compared to other groups. We explore affective polarisation on social media and its implications for online intergroup interaction.
Have We Got a Deal for You: Do You Want the Good News or Bad News First?
Journal of Service ResearchKirk L Wakefield, Priya Raghubir, J Jeffrey Inman
2022-08-18
Traditional practice prominently presents offers (e.g., “50% Off”) followed by a quantity (“When you buy two”), duration (“Today only”), or other conditional restriction as a scarcity appeal to increase urgency. We propose and test a sales promotion framework for admission-based experiences showing that leading with the bad news first (the restriction) followed by the good news (the discount) is consistent with consumer news order preferences and changes perceptions of the deal.
Are Brands Wasting Money On Sport Sponsorships?: A New Look at Brand Personality, Brand Equity, and Official Sponsorship Effects
Journal of Advertising ResearchLane Wakefield, Kirk Wakefield, Kevin Lane Keller, Anne Rivers
2021-06-01
Marketers pour millions of dollars into sport sponsorship and need a better understanding of its effects. Consumers evaluate brands at different sponsorship levels as part of a broader advertising and marketing program; understanding how they do this is important in developing guidelines and norms for optimal marketing communications, planning, and budgeting. Accounting for brands’ spending on advertising outside of sponsorship and two distinct brand personality profiles, official Major League Baseball sponsorship is analyzed and associated with four dimensions of brand equity using the expansive BrandAsset Valuator database, covering five years. Fan consumption behaviors in terms of actively watching or attending games also are considered.
How name, image and likeness “Fit” in sport partnerships
Journal of Applied Sport ManagementLane Wakefield, Kirk Wakefield, Jonathan A Jensen, Greg Bennett
2021-02-01
Sponsorship opportunities in college athletics have shifted dramatically as athletes have rights to name, image and likeness (NIL). NIL assets, once illegal for college athletes, are prime avenues for brands to reach college sports fans, the largest and most avid sports fan base in the U.S. Our purpose is to evaluate how these changes “fit” into the overall sponsorship landscape and what will come next. With the impact on brands, properties and consumers over time, we narrow our discussion around “fit,” the most prevalent factor in academic sponsorship research.
Understanding Sponsorship: A Consumer-Centric Model of Sponsorship Effects
Journal of AdvertisingLane Wakefield, Kirk Wakefield, Kevin Lane Keller
2020-06-12
A crucial component of many marketing programs, sponsorship has not always received the same research attention as other tactical marketing levers. We offer a new definition of sponsorship and describe a three-step consumer-centric model of sponsorship effects.
