Resources & Publications
Open Resources
I manage knowledge spaces in the following areas:
- Sport Management Research: Examination of consumer psychology and behavior across sport, esports, and related ecosystems, including but not limited to participation, spectating, and broader consumption practices, as well as the effects of gamification and the dynamics of user-generated content (UGC), alongside the development of accessible pedagogical frameworks that translate research insights into inclusive learning experiences and advance the democratization of knowledge across diverse communities.
- Natural Language Processing (NLP): Application of both traditional and advanced NLP techniques, including lexicon based and rule based methods, word embeddings, aspect based sentiment analysis (ABSA), topic modeling, and the integration of large language models (LLMs) for semantic interpretation, classification, and inference.
- Computer Vision (CV): Analysis of images and video that combines conventional feature based methods with large multimodal models (LMMs) for image understanding, cross modal reasoning, and video analytics, carried out with q-multimodal, a toolkit that extracts visual, audio, and semantic features from media.
- Datasets: Curation and analysis of multimodal datasets encompassing UGC, news media, corporate reports, and other textual, visual, and audiovisual sources.
- Agent Skills: Development of specialized agentic modules (q-skills) that autonomously execute end-to-end tasks, including analytical pipeline execution (q-eda, q-tf), social media content generation (q-infographics), and the production of formatted research reports (q-scholar).
Resources available on: GitHub, Hugging Face, OSF, and YouTube.
Published Research
Romantic relationships, athlete branding, and social media dynamics: Examining the NFL’s Instagram posts and fan responses to Taylor Swift content
Published in Journal of Sport Management, 2026
Our analysis of 41 NFL Instagram posts along with over 200,000 comments about the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce relationship revealed that content visually presenting the couple with minimal explicit romantic cues achieved higher engagement and more favorable sentiment by effectively managing competing audience expectations rooted in a gendered cognitive schema conflict.
Sports, politics, and social media: A human-AI collaborative analysis of consumer reactions to Trump’s Break 50 appearance
Published in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2026
Using a human-AI collaboration pipeline, we revealed how entertainment, politics, and athletic frames shaped warmth and competence judgments of Trump’s Break 50 appearance, advancing theory while offering a scalable, replicable way to study user-generated content.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.