Gashaw Abeza (PhD) is recognized as one of the leading scholars in the field of social media in sport. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Towson University. Dr Abeza has a long-standing and on-going research program studying the impact of social media on the sport industry and its implications for society at large. He has written extensively on the topic of social media in sport, publishing over 45 journal articles and book chapters in outlets such as Communication & Sport, International Journal of Sport Communication (IJSC), Journal of Sport Management, Journal of Strategic Marketing, amongst others. He is the co-author of two previous books: one, on e-sport entitled Implications and Impacts of eSports on Business and Society (IGI global, 2019) and a second, on sport marketing entitled Canadian Sport Marketing (Human Kinetics, in press). Prior to returning to academia, Abeza had a successful career in sport management and marketing at a global level, and currently provides consultancy services to a range of sport organizations around the world. Abeza serves as an ad hoc reviewer for a number of academic journals and was a special issue guest editor for IJSC on the topic of "Contemporary Issues in Social Media in Sport." Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of seven different academic journals. Before joining Towson University, Abeza taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX, USA) and the University of Ottawa (Ottawa, ON, Canada).Norm O'Reilly (PhD) is recognized as one of the leading scholars in the business of sports. He is currently Professor of Sport Management at the Gordon S Lang School of Business & Economics at the University of Guelph, a leading research university near Canada's largest city of Toronto, where he is the founding Director of the International Institute for Sport Business & Leadership at Guelph, a think-tank devoted to improving the sport business globally. Dr O'Reilly has a keen interest in social media and its role in achieving the business objectives of brands who sponsor sport, sport properties and agencies who support these brands and properties. An active scholar, with 15 books and more than 140 journal publications, scholarship in social media is a prominent element of his work. For instance, the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study, which Dr O'Reilly is founding and lead researcher, includes a series of questions related to social media that have informed industry practice and academic research. A recipient of the Career Achievement Award by the American Marketing Association's Sport Marketing Special Interest Group and the "Five to Watch" under-40 sport industry award, Dr O'Reilly has taught at Guelph, Ohio, Ottawa, Stanford, Syracuse, Ryerson, and Laurentian universities.Jimmy Sanderson (PhD) is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management at Texas Tech University. Dr Sanderson maintains an active research agenda focused on social media and sport has published over 80 journal articles and book chapters. He is the author of two previous books on social media and sport — It's a Whole New Ballgame: How Social Media is Changing Sport and Developing Successful Social Media Plans in Sport Organizations with Dr Chris Yandle. He regularly consults with and speaks to sport organizations on social media related topics. Dr Sanderson has been cited in a variety of news outlets on social media and sport including USA Today, ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated, and The Washington Post. Dr Sanderson has taught at Arizona State University and Clemson University.Evan Frederick (PhD) is currently an Associate Professor of Sport Administration within the Department of Health and Sport Sciences at the University of Louisville. His primary research interest is the intersection of sport and social media. Specific areas of interest include image repair, perceptions of athlete activism, and discussions of socio-cultural and political issues via social media. Frederick's work in these areas was recently cited in the Washington Post. Frederick has published 40 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in outlets such as Communication & Sport, the International Journal of Sport Communication, Journal of Sports Media, Sport in Society, Mass Communication & Society, and Online Information Review. Frederick currently serves on as the Vice-Chair for the International Association for Communication and Sport and as an editorial board review member for Communication & Sport. Previous to the University of Louisville, Frederick taught at the University of New Mexico and the University of Southern Indiana.
