College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management
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- Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe
Faculty and Staff
Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe, Ph.D.
Title: | Associate Professor International Graduate Program Director |
Department: | Department of Sport and Entertainment Management College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management |
Email: | nmwatana@mailbox.sc.edu |
Phone: | 803-777-8532 |
Fax: | 803-777-8788 |
Office: | Close-Hipp 776 |
Resources: | Curriculum Vitae |
Education
Ph.D., Recreation, Sport and Tourism, University of Illinois
M.S., Leisure Studies, University of Illinois
Background
Nicholas Masafumi Watanabe is the international graduate program director and an associate professor in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management. Watanabe received his Master of Science in leisure studies and his Ph.D. in recreation, sport and tourism from the University of Illinois. Prior to coming to South Carolina, Watanabe served as assistant professor from 2016 to 2017 and assistant teaching professor from 2010 to 2016 at the University of Missouri.
As an undergraduate, Watanabe interned for the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer from 2000 to 2003. He lectured at Beijing Sport University in 2011, where he taught a course comparing and contrasting the business practices of North American sport organizations with those in China. In addition, he has a second degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Kendo.
In the Media
- Dodgers' Ohtani-Yamamoto Double Play Seen As A Win Overseas: NPR Los Angeles
- Shohei Otani's opening match in Seoul...Why?: Tokyo Web
- Tanking in professional sports: NPR Marketplace
- Climate Change’s groundbreaking sustainability efforts offer a gigantic example, and new challenges: Sports Business Journal
- As COVID Fades — in Starts — Effects and Prevention Habits May Persist: SC Public Radio
- The words you'll need to know to watch these new Olympic sports this week: CNN
- Sport 2050: Why are we doing this - and why does it matter today?: BBC
- Sport 2050: Three ways attending sport as a fan could change: BBC
- The Rise and Collapse of Europe’s Soccer Super League: The Nation
- Air quality issues expected to increasingly impact sports: ESPN
- Athlete protests: WIS (link unavailable)
- Who Decides if College Football Returns in the Fall?: SC Public Radio
- For sports fans, coronavirus cancellations are unprecedented and deflating: Washington Post
- A typically noisy sports month is silenced by coronavirus cancellations: Washington Post
- Afternoon Headlines, March 17: SC Public Radio (link unavailable)
- COVID-19 impact: Sports and entertainment: SC.edu
- Hard work and strength of character made Kobe Bryant a star in Asia: Nikkei Asian Review
- What are the biggest challenges facing professional football today?: WalletHub
- How racial demonstrations affected NFL attendance: KBTX and other outlets
Research
- Sports economics
- Esports
- Big data and analytics
- Sport finance
- Social media
- Communication
- International sport
- Collegiate athletics
Teaching
- SPTE 440 – Sport and Entertainment Business and Finance
- SPTE 550 – The Business of Esports
- SPTE 590 – Big Data and Analytics
Honors / Awards
- North American Society for Sport Management Research Fellow (2018)
Editorial Boards
- European Sport Management Quarterly
- International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
- Journal of Global Sport Management
- Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics
- Journal of Leisure Research, Associate Editor
- Journal of Sport Management
- Managing Sport and Leisure
- Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal
- Sport Management Review
- Sport Marketing Quarterly
Research Publications
Koba, T. H., Nagel, M. S., Watanabe, N. M., Yan, G., Southall, R. M., & Kidd, V. K. (2023). An exploration of professional U.S. based basketball players competing in Turkey. Journal of Global Sport Management, 8(1), 161-182. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2020.1775019
Jin, D., DiPietro, R. B., & Watanabe, N. M. (2022). Customer online feedback with an identity versus no identity: The influence on review comments. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 46(2), 267-295. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348020988889
Yan, G., Pegoraro, A., & Watanabe, N. M. (2021). Examining IRA bots in the NFL anthem protest: Political agendas and practices of digital gatekeeping. Communication & Sport, 9(1), 88-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519849114
Xue, H., Watanabe, N. M., Chen, R., Newman, J. I., & Yan, G. (2020). Football (as) Guanxi: A relational analysis of actor reciprocity, state capitalism, and the Chinese football industry. Sport in Society, 23(12), 2005-2030. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2020.1755959
McCullough, B. P., Orr, M., & Watanabe, N. M. (2020). Measuring externalities: The imperative next step to sustainability assessment in sport. Journal of Sport Management, 34(5), 393-402. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2019-0254
Watanabe, N. M., & Cunningham, G. B. (2020). "The impact of race relations on NFL attendance: An econometric analysis. PLoS ONE, 15(1), e0226938. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226938
Watanabe, N. M., Pegoraro, A., Yan, G., & Shapiro, S. L. (2019). Does rivalry matter? An analysis of sport consumer interest on social media. International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship, 20(4), 646-665. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-07-2018-0070
Watanabe, N. M., Yan, G., & Soebbing, B. (2019). Market disruption as a regime for athlete activism: An economic analysis of college football player protests. Sport Management Review, 22(5), 600-612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2018.08.003
Yan, G., Watanabe, N. M., Shapiro, S. L., Naraine, M. L., & Hull, K. (2019). Unfolding the Twitter scene of the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final: Social media networks and power dynamics. European Sport Management Quarterly, 19(4), 419-436. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2018.1517272
Watanabe, N. M., Yan, G., Soebbing, B. P., & Fu, W. (2019). Air pollution and attendance in the Chinese Super League: Environmental economics and the demand for sport. Journal of Sport Management, 33(4), 289-302. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2018-0214
Wanless, E. A., Watanabe, N. M., Lawrence-Benedict, H., & Fodor, A. (2019). Contextualizing the financial disparity discussion: Modeling Power Five and Group of Five athletic revenues. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 12, 22-45. http://csri-jiia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/RA_2019_02.pdf
Gong, H., Watanabe, N. M., Brown, M. T., & Nagel, M. S. (2019). The impact of the Chinese Basketball Association’s Asian-born player policy on competitive balance. Journal of Global Sport Management, 4(2), 128-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2018.1537679
Yan, G., Steller, D., Watanabe, N. M., & Popp, N. (2018). What determines user-generated content creation of college football? Analytical modeling from the lens of structuration theory. International Journal of Sport Communication, 11(2), 219-240. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2017-0113
Baker, T. A., Edelman, M., & Watanabe, N. M. (2018). Debunking the NCAA’s myth that amateurism conforms with antitrust law: A legal and statistical analysis. Tennessee Law Review, 85, 661-705. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3072641
Yan, G., Pegoraro, A., & Watanabe, N. M. (2018). Student-Athletes’ organization of activism at the University of Missouri: Resource mobilization on Twitter. Journal of Sport Management, 32(1), 24-37. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2017-0031
Soebbing, B. P., Watanabe, N. M., & Seifried, C. (2017). The impact of price discrimination, price dispersion, and facilities on organizational revenue: Lessons from Major League Baseball. Managing Sport and Leisure, 22(6), 442-457. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2018.1515031
Watanabe, N. M., Yan, G., Soebbing, B. P., & Pegoraro, A. (2017). Is there consumer-based economic discrimination on sport social media? An analysis of Major League Baseball. Journal of Sport Management, 31(4), 374-386. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0244
Brunette, C., Vo, N., & Watanabe, N. M. (2017). Donation intention in current students: An analysis of university engagement and sense of place in future athletic, academic, and split donors. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 10, 78-100. http://csri-jiia.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/RA_2017_05.pdf
Watanabe, N. M., & Soebbing, B. P. (2017). Chinese Super League: Attendance, pricing, and team performance. Sport, Business and Management, 7(2), 157-174. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBM-10-2016-0055
Popp, N., McEvoy, C., & Watanabe, N. M. (2017). Do college athletics marketers convert social media growth into ticket sales? International Journal of Sport Marketing and Sponsorship, 18(2), 212-227. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSMS-05-2017-090
Watanabe, N. M., Wicker, P., & Yan, G. (2017). Weather conditions, travel distance, rest, and running performance: The 2014 FIFA World Cup and Implications for the Future. Journal of Sport Management, 31(1), 27-43. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0077