Matthew Katz
Department Chair | Professor | Dean's Research Faculty Fellow
Dr. Matthew Katz received his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a faculty member in the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management, Isenberg School of Management, at the University of Massachusetts since 2015. His research focuses on Sport Marketing broadly and Sport Consumer Behavior more specifically, with an emphasis on understanding the social nature of sports fandom through fan-to-fan relationships and fan networks. Katz also uses similar tools and frameworks to examine how sport employees leverage formal and informal networks in their roles within sport. Most recently, Katz has focused his research on understanding the phenomenon of IsoFans, or those fans who consume sport alone. Katz is a NASSM Research Fellow, former Associate Editor at Sport Marketing Quarterly, and Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Sport Management and Sport Management Review, and currently holds the title of Isenberg Dean’s Faculty Research Fellow.
Education
Academic Appointments
Recent Honors / Awards
Research Interests
Teaching Interests
- Sport marketing
- Sport sponsorship strategy
- Sport analytics
- Sport history
Selected Working Papers/Current Research
Consuming Sport Alone or Together: Comparing IsoFans, DuoFans, and Social Fans (Under Review at Journal of Sport Management)
Healthy Networks, Healthy Fans: An Egocentric Study of Sport Fandom, Social Networks, and Physical Health (Under Review at Journal of Sport Management)
Media, Industry, and Public Impact
The New Faces Redefining Women’s Sport Fans (May 2025), published by Wasserman’s The Collective
Selected Publications
Katz, M., Melton, E. N., Isard, R., & Agha, N. (2024). Fan Networks in Women’s Sport: An Egocentric Analysis of Social Fans and IsoFans. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 33(2), 166-180.
Katz, M., Mansfield, A. C., & Tyler, B. D. (2020). The Strength of Fan Ties: Emotional Support in Sport Fan Egocentric Networks. Journal of Sport Management, 34, 291-302.
Katz, M., Heere, B., & Melton, E. N. (2020). Predicting Fan Behavior through Egocentric Network Analysis: Examining Season Ticket Holder Renewal. Journal of Sport Management, 34, 217-228.