Katie Lebel

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), The University of Western Ontario

Master of Arts, Kinesiology, The University of Western Ontario

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology/Sports Management, St. John's University

Gender Equity

Sport Fandom/Fan Behavior

Sport Retail

Sport Branding

Sports Marketing

Sports Management

Gen Z

Selected Publications:

Lough, N., LaVoi, A., Pegoraro, A., Lebel, K., Mumcu, C., Antunovic, D. (2022). [Whitepaper]. DisruptHERS: Driving A New Model for Women's Sport.

Lebel, K., Mumcu, C., Pegoraro, A., LaVoi, N., Lough, N., Antunovic, D. (2021). Re-Thinking Women’s Sport Research: Looking in the Mirror and Reflecting Forward. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living: Special Issue Publication on Exploring Distinctive Issues in Women’s Professional Sport.

Eddy, T., Cork, C., Lebel, K., Howie, E. (2021). Examining Engagement with Sport Sponsor Activations on Twitter. International Journal of Sport Communication, 14(1).

Pegoraro, A., & Lebel, K. (2021). Social Media & Sport Marketing. In Butterworth, M., Schultz, P., & Cobley, P. (Eds.) Handbook of Communication and Sport. Mouton de Gruyter.

Lebel, K., & Vidotto, D. (2021). Stepping Up to the Plate: Why An Investment in Girls Athletic Apparel is Good for the Game. In Fuller, L. (Ed). Uniformly Discussed: Sportswomen’s Apparel Around the World. Palgrave Macmillan.

Pegoraro, A., Lebel, K., & Harman, A. (2019). Social Media and Womens’ Sport. What We Have Learned So Far. In Lough, N. & Gueurin, A. (Eds.), Handbook of the Business of Women’s Sport. Taylor and Francis Group. pp. 455-467.

Lebel, K., & Danylchuk, K. (2019). The Impact of Digital Media in Tennis. In Osborne, C., Lake, R., & Wagg, S. (Eds.), Handbook of Tennis. Routledge.

Lebel, K., Harman, A., & Pegoraro, A. (2018). The Impact of Digital Culture on Women in Sport. In Parry, D., Johnson, C., & Fullagar, S. (Eds.), Digital dilemmas: Transforming gender identities and power relations in everyday life. Palgrave Macmillan.

HTM 2220 - Communication and Media Strategy in Sport

HTM 3220 - Sales, Sponsorship & Stakeholder Engagement in Sport

Selected Presentations:

Lebel, K., & Gunn, F. (2022). “If you can buy it, you can be it”: Implict Gender Bias in Sport Retail Websites. Paper presented at Recent Advances in Retailing and Consumer Service, Baveno, Italy.

Lebel, K., Pegoraro, A., Harman, A. (2021). We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know: An Assessment of the Awareness of Women in Sport. Paper Presented to the 13th annual summit on Communication and Sport, Virtual Conference.

Waseem, M., Lebel, K. (2021). Who Still Watches the Olympics Anyway? An Exploratory Study of the Gen Z Olympic Brand Experience. Paper presented to the 13th annual summit on Communication and Sport, Virtual Conference.

Lebel, K., Pegoraro, A., Harman, A. (2020). We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know: An Assessment of the Awareness of Women in Sport. Paper Accepted to the 13th annual summit on Communication and Sport, St. Petersburg, FL.

Harman, A., Lebel, K. (2020). For the Good of the Game: A New Institutionalism Examination of FIFA and the Development of the Women’s Game. Paper presented to the 35th annual conference of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), San Diego, CA.

Eddy, T., Lebel, K., Cork, C. (2019). Examining the Impact of Message Structure on Engagement with Sport Sponsor Activations on Twitter. Paper presented to the Annual European Sport Management Conference, Seville, Spain.

Lebel, K., & Vidotto, D. (2019). Dressed for Success: An Analysis of the Marketing of Girls Athletic Apparel. Paper presented to the 10th annual conference on Sport and Society. Toronto, ON.

Harman, A. & Lebel, K. (2019). Digital Branding Strategies in Women’sMajor League Soccer. Paper presented to the 34th annual conference of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), New Orleans, LA.

Lebel, K., Pegoraro, A., & Harman, A. (2019). It’s Dude Time 2.0: An Examination of Canadian Sport News Coverage on Twitter. Paper presented to the 12th annual summit on Communication and Sport, Boise, ID.

Lebel, K., & Lowe, J., Harman, A. (2019). Olympic Brand Personality: Engaging the Next Generation of Fans. Paper presented to the 12th annual summit of Communication and Sport, Boise, ID.

Quoted in Toronto Star article entitled: Male winner of 2022 National Bank Open will take home twice as much as the female champion. Why?

Featured in BBC News Business Daily special entitled Women, Sport, and Business: Merchandise

Quoted in Toronto Star article entitled: Lululemon to outfit Canadian Olympic and Paralympic teams as COC parts ways with Hudson’s Bay Company

Author of Sport Business Journal article entitled: Cool Women’s Sports Merch Will Secure Future Fans

Author of Globe and Mail Opinion Editorial entitled: "Where is the Sport Merchandise for Canadian Women Athletes?"

Quoted in Morning Consult: Olympics Buck Trend of Interest Gap for Men’s and Women’s Sports

Quoted in Front Office Sports: NIL Pay Gap: A Vicious Cycle

Quoted in the Globe and Mail article entitled: “The Hypocrisy Behind the Lack of Support for Women’s Sports”

Author of The Conversation article entitled: “What pro sports should learn from resilient women athletes post-pandemic”

Co-Author for Op-Ed in Sports Business Journal entitled: “Proof in the Data: New Model Emerging for Women’s Sport”

Quoted in Toronto Star article entitled, “Women are at the forefront of the sporting world’s push for social change”

Co-Author for special Women’s Sports edition of Sports Business Journal article entitled: “The Power of Women and Sport: Changing the Default”

Author of The Conversation article entitled: “Andreescu’s meteoric rise shows what happens when we value women’s sport”

Co-author for Zoomph article entitled: “A legend and a breakout star: A social summary of the US Open”

Author of The Conversation article entitled: “How Big Brands Could Solve the Gender Pay Gap in Sport”