Brand Logos for Yizhou (Tyreal) Qian 钱亦舟
Posts by Collection
portfolio
publications
It is in the game: Dimensions of esports online spectator motivation and development of a scale
Published in European Sport Management Quarterly, 2020
We utilized a mixed methods design to develop the Motivation Scale for Esports Spectatorship (MSES). The findings revealed unique motivational factors specific to esports viewing—skill improvement and vicarious sensation—alongside traditional viewing factors like competition excitement and social bonding. By examining platform-specific features such as first-person views and chat interaction, this study provides stakeholders with a validated framework for understanding and enhancing viewer engagement in the expanding esports market.
Watching sports on Twitch? A study of factors influencing continuance intentions to watch Thursday Night Football co-streaming
Published in Sport Management Review, 2021
We explored the NFL’s Thursday Night Football co-streaming partnership with Twitch, examining how video game personalities influence viewer engagement. The findings revealed that co-streaming fit and virtual interactions significantly drive continued viewership, with streamer expertise having particularly strong impact among highly identified viewers. This study provides valuable insights for sports organizations seeking to leverage social live streaming platforms for enhanced fan engagement through personalized commentary and interactive experiences.
Gamification for value creation and viewer engagement in gamified livestreaming services: The moderating role of gender in esports
Published in Journal of Business Research, 2022
Our research examined how gamification impacts viewer engagement in esports livestreaming through an online survey. The findings revealed that immersion and socialization features significantly enhanced viewer engagement, with distinct gender preferences: females responded more strongly to immersive elements, while males were more influenced by social features. These insights provide platforms with clear direction for optimizing their gamification strategies to enhance viewer experiences across different audience segments.
Tweets, triumphs, and tensions: A machine learning approach to decoding multi-tier thematic framing of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on social media
Published in Communication & Sport, 2024
Our research examined how different content creator tiers on X framed and influenced engagement during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Through text mining, we identified three key themes—athletic achievements, international participation, and geopolitical implications—with distinct engagement patterns across creator levels. To unlock deeper insights into the study, please visit our interactive webpage.
Experience is all you need: A large language model application of fine-tuned GPT-3.5 and RoBERTa for aspect-based sentiment analysis of college football stadium reviews
Published in Sport Management Review, 2024
Drawing on LLMs (transfer learning), we analyzed Tripadvisor reviews to identify the key drivers of exceptional college football game day experience. To explore the study further, please visit this interactive webpage.
Technology, authenticity, and fans’ sentiment: A case study of the automated ball-strike system
Published in Sports Technology and Innovation Symposium, Washington, DC., 2024
Our research examined baseball fans’ reactions to Automated Ball-Strike technology through analysis of Reddit posts and comments. The findings revealed three key dimensions of authenticity that influenced fan acceptance: nostalgic (traditional elements), procedural (game mechanics), and community (shared experiences). This study provides valuable insights into how sports organizations can effectively balance technological innovation with preserving the game’s essential character, ultimately enhancing our understanding of technology’s role in modern sports engagement.
Esports’ debut as a medal event at the 2023 Asian Games: Exploring public perceptions with BERTopic and GPT-4 topic fine-tuning
Published in The 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Big Island, HI, 2025
This study examined public perceptions and stakeholder dynamics of esports at the 2023 Asian Games through LLM-enhanced topic modeling. The findings revealed that while esports’ inclusion as a medal event helped legitimize competitive gaming, strategic social media marketing and cross-subcultural collaborations were crucial for building mainstream acceptance. This study provides valuable insights into how major sporting events can effectively integrate esports while managing public perception and stakeholder engagement.
Make Golf Great Again? Analyzing Social Media Reactions to Trump’s Appearance in Bryson DeChambeau’s “Break 50” YouTube Series
Published in NASSM2025, San Diego, CA, 2025
This study analyzes audience evaluations of Donald Trump’s appearance in Bryson DeChambeau’s Break 50 YouTube series, revealing how entertainment, political, and athletic frames elicited distinct, nuanced stereotypes of warmth and competence across social media platforms. For more details, please refer to the presentation slides.
talks
Thursday Night Transformed: Twitch’s TNF Co-Streaming
Published:
In this podcast, Tracy and I dive into the innovative partnership between the NFL and Twitch, examining how gaming personalities are transforming Thursday Night Football through interactive co-streaming. We share the research findings on what makes TNF co-streaming unique.
College Football Game Day: Experience Is All You Need
Published:
Our latest podcast examines new research published in Sport Management Review that uses advanced AI language models to analyze fan sentiment in college football stadium reviews, revealing valuable insights for college football game day experience management and operations.
Tweets, Triumphs, and Tensions: 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on X
Published:
This podcast examines new research published in Communication & Sport that uses an NLP technique (LDA topic modeling) to unpack the social media buzz around the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Esports Debuts as Medal Sport at 2023 Asian Games: Public Perception on X
Published:
This podcast examines an interesting study accepted by The 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences that uses latest NLP techniques (BERTopic and LLM topic representation) to analyze public discourse around esports’ inclusion in the Asian Games on X.
Real Talk about Robo-Umps: Baseball’s Authenticity Debate on Reddit
Published:
In this podcast, Luke and I explore how baseball fans perceive Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) and its impact on the authenticity of the game.
When Love Story Meets Cruel Summer: Did the NFL Score with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Romance on Instagram?
Published:
One of our most intriguing findings shared in the podcast is that posts showing Swift and Kelce together naturally garnered the best engagement - no staged moments needed, just their genuine connection speaking for itself.
QLearning: Hits and Misses in the NFL’s Swift-Kelce Instagram Strategy
Published:
Introducing a transformative online learning experience that takes an in-depth look at highly engaged, yet negatively received NFL Instagram posts featuring Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. By analyzing this real-world case study, students will uncover valuable insights on how celebrity-athlete crossovers can face backlash if perceived as prioritizing fame over the sport, as well as strategies for striking the right balance between sports and culture on social media. The course culminates in an interactive activity where students use the COSTAR framework to ideate and refine their own original Instagram post concept.
NASSM Conversations: Applied AI in Sport Management
Published:
I was honored to speak at the February NASSM Conversations, where Michael and I explored the exciting and evolving role of AI in sport management. Our session, “A Conversation about Applied AI in Sport Management,” sparked valuable discussions around practical AI applications, and it was wonderful engaging with an enthusiastic audience. Huge thanks to NASSM and everyone who participated!
QLearning: Step-by-Step NLP 101 Guide for Beginners
Published:
Introduce NLP 101 where we explore the fundamentals of natural language processing (NLP) by performing sentiment analysis—a powerful tool to analyze public opinion and emotion in text data. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to apply both advanced pretrained models from Hugging Face’s Transformers library and the lexicon-based VADER approach. Using a practical dataset of college football stadium reviews, we’ll evaluate and compare these methods using key metrics like accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. Designed for all experience levels, this video aims to make AI approachable, useful, and impactful for sport management professionals and researchers alike.
QLearning: Step-by-Step LLM 101 Guide for Beginners
Published:
Introduce LLM 101 where we explore how Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically GPT-4o, can systematically filter and organize large volumes of text data—such as fan comments, social media posts, and scouting reports. This step-by-step tutorial demonstrates how to harness LLMs directly from your web browser using Google Colab. We’ll use real-world data from a research project involving YouTube content related to the innovative TMRW Golf League (TGL), showing precisely how GPT-4o can streamline the analysis process, saving significant manual effort. Designed for all experience levels, this video aims to make AI approachable, useful, and impactful for sport management professionals and researchers alike.
NASSM Workshop: NLP4ALL Insights from Zeigler Lectures
Published:
I was honored to lead the NLP4ALL workshop at NASSM 2025 in San Diego. NLP4ALL is dedicated to advancing NLP applications in sport management research. This workshop, “NLP4ALL: Insights from Zeigler Lectures,” sparked insightful discussions around diverse NLP techniques, ranging from traditional machine learning methods such as topic modeling to LLM-assisted content analysis. I am grateful to my co-presenters and all participants who contributed to the engaging dialogue!
teaching
Teaching experience 1
Undergraduate course, University 1, Department, 2014
This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.
Teaching experience 2
Workshop, University 1, Department, 2015
This is a description of a teaching experience. You can use markdown like any other post.