Dr. Brian Soebbing joined the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation as an assistant professor in July of 2016
Born and raised in Quincy, Illinois, assistant professor, Dr. Brian Soebbing's young academic career has taken him from the University of Alberta (Department of Economics) to Louisiana State University (assistant professor in the School of Kinesiology), Temple University (assistant professor in the School of Sport, Tourism and Sport Hospitality Management) and back to the his current role with the Faculty of Physical Education.
Bringing a wealth of experience and his passion for sport management research to the University of Alberta, Dr. Soebbing joined the Faculty as an assistant professor in July of this year. We sat down with Brian to get to know a little more about one of our newest faculty members.
What led you into an academic career?
When starting my masters degree, I had full intention of being a coach. However, I went to a conference after my first year and attended an academic symposium on Moneyball. I've always been drawn to numbers and statistics so to see that concepts of Moneyball could be applied to sports management research, and I could make a career out of it was very appealing. During that symposium is when I decided that I should pursue a career in academics instead of going into coaching or some other professional endeavor. Ironically, little of the research I have done in the past and am currently conducting has anything to do with the Moneyball concept.
What interested you in taking your PhD within the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta?
The interest for me was for three reasons:
1) The rich history of the Faculty and, specifically, the rich history of excellence within the sport management PhD program. In attending sport management conferences in North America around the world, you quickly notice the rich history of scholars who are leaders in the academic community that earned their degree from the program.
2) My masters advisor at the University of Illinois, Brad Humphreys, took a job at the University of Alberta. That continuity was important for me, particularly because I did not go into my masters degree thinking about a career in academics.
3) I thought the University of Alberta was the perfect environment to combine the knowledge gained from my undergraduate and masters degrees and pursue classes throughout the university that I could not have done at other institutions that I was looking at to continue my studies.
During your PhD, you were co-supervised by current Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation professor, Dan Mason. What impact did Dan have and continues to have on your career?
A great advisor provides you the initial skills, puts you in the position to succeed, gives you the freedom to explore research questions and literature, and challenges you to make a meaningful contribution to expand the body of knowledge. As a student, Dan provided all of these things and more. As a young academic, he has always been a great person to talk about research ideas, initial results, and how to make my research stronger.
Your research interests are two-fold. Can you tell us a bit around your main research focus around the strategic behavior of sport and recreation organizations and their constituents?
My initial interest was to look at competitive balance in sports leagues and the consumer interest resulting from that parity and other factors. From that initial interest, my research has expanded to look at issues related to changes in coaches, ticket pricing dispersion, and social media economics. One of my current research projects examines issues related to off-field criminal behavior of athletes. Through the collection of National Football League player off-field incidents, I am exploring topics such as criminal incidents and the response by teams and leagues, compensation impacts related to criminal behavior, and consumer response to off-field incidents of players.
Your secondary research interest focuses on the social and economic impact of gambling within society. Can you describe some of the research you have done in this area and how it relates to the sport and recreation-context?
I was fortunate enough as a student to be a research assistant on a project examining the social and economic impact of gambling in Alberta. Working on this project provided me the opportunity to engage in research looking at impact areas such as crime impacts surrounding casinos, gambling participation behavior across different types of games (e.g., lotteries, vlts), and issues surrounding horse racing.
Your main research focus is very interesting from a sports-fan perspective. Was this (being a sports fan) a factor in drawing you to this area of research?
Being a sports fan was part of the initial interest given the large revenues in professional and amateur sports leagues around the world. However, I learned in my early years as a PhD student that you have to sometimes put emotion as a sports fan aside as it can cloud your view regarding underlying theory and the contribution to broader society.
What has been your most proud and/or significant moment as a researcher to date?
I have been very fortunate to meet some wonderful people from all over the world and to present research studying sport and recreation topics in settings all over the world. In getting to meet these people and discuss/collaborate on research, I would have to say those meetings and conversations have been the most significant for me early on.
You are teaching two classes this year - KIN209 (Research Methods in Kinesiology) and PERLS305 (Financial Management in Recreation, Sport and Tourism) - what can students expect from you as an instructor?
Broadly, I give my maximum effort in each class and expect students to do the same. Specifically, students can expect an instructor who provides students with a thorough presentation of concepts, current issues highlighting these concepts, and opportunities to engage in discussion on these topics/concepts. Students will be challenged to articulate viewpoints and apply concepts and strategies to their own professional career endeavors in sport and recreation.
Are you supervising any graduate or undergraduate students at the moment?
I have two PhD students who are wrapping up their PhD studies at LSU. I am currently looking for new PhD and thesis-based masters students who are interested in conducting research in the areas of the economics of sport.
Thanks Brian and welcome back to the University of Alberta!
It is a privilege to come back as a faculty member within the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation. I am excited to be able to contribute to the rich legacy of the sport management program.