Dr Leah Gillooly
Reader in Marketing
My profile
Biography
I am a research-active academic, specialising in the area of sports marketing. My research expertise is in sports sponsorship and sports fan behaviour. I engage in a a wide range of research projects, both qualitative and quantitative, collaborating with international and UK-based colleagues. My teaching is currently focused around marketing, brand management and research methods. I am also actively involved in supervising students at Masters and Doctoral level. I regularly comment in the media on stories around sports marketing and sponsorship.
Other academic service (administration and management)
2023 - present: Knowledge Platform Lead - Market Transformations
2021 - 2023: Postgraduate Research Lead - Department of Marketing, International Business & Tourism
External examiner roles
2017-2021: External Examiner for MSc Sports Business Management, University of Liverpool
I have been external examiner for DBA and MA theses both in the UK and overseas.
Consultancy and advisory roles
I have worked on consultancy projects for a range of sports organisations, including UK Sport and British Orienteering.
Prizes and awards
Winner of Sport, Business & Management: An International Journal Outstanding Reviewer in 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.
Winner of Sport, Business & Management: An International Journal Outstanding Paper in 2015 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence for: Donlan, L. (2014) An empirical assessment of factors affecting the brand-building effectiveness of sponsorship. Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal 4 (1), 6-25
Editorial Board membership
I am a member of the Editorial Boards for European Sport Management Quarterly, Sport, Business & Management: An International Journal, and the Journal of Sport Communication.
Membership of professional associations
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
I am a Member of the European Association for Sport Management.
Impact
The findings from my project on contract cheating in Higher Education were presented at the Westminster Higher Education Forum.
Projects
My current research projects are looking at:
- The experience of fans queuing for major sports events
- Fan reactions to sponsorship activations
- Socialisation of expansion team fans
- Sponsorship governance in eSports
- Fandom, athlete retirement and wellbeing
- Sponsorship and corporate social responsibility
Teaching
I teach on a range of units in marketing, largely at postgraduate level.
I have taught on:
- Marketing in Practice
- Marketing Masters Level Learning
- Brand Management
- Understanding the Customer Experience
- Sports Branding & Sponsorship
Supervision
I welcome applications from students looking to pursue postgraduate research degrees (PhD) in the following areas:
- Sports sponsorship (specifically, but not limited to activation)
- Sports fandom and consumption (specifically: motivations for becoming a fan of particular athletes; fandom and wellbeing; and the sports fan journey)
- Sports marketing from a customer engagement perspective, including social media activities and experiential marketing
I am have supervised research students researching the following topics:
- Sports fandom
- Social media strategy of professional football clubs
- Organisational socialisation of volunteers in sports clubs
Research outputs
My research interests lie in the broad area of sports sponsorship, with a focus on sponsorship activation strategies employed by sponsors. I am particularly interested in how sponsors can maximise the effectiveness of their sponsorship activations from a corporate social responsibility perspective and the impact of these activations on target audiences. I have recently completed a project exploring fans’ reactions to the corporate renaming of sports stadia. Looking forwards I have just started working on projects exploring queuing at major events and the impact of athlete fandom on wellbeing. I am also interested in exploring issues which further develop our understanding of sports sponsorship in the 21st century.
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Gillooly, L., Eddy, T., Medway, D. (2022) Stadia Naming Rights in Sport. Routledge.
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Chapters in books
Gillooly, L., Medway, D. (2018) 'Sponsorships, Stadia and Naming Rights.' In Chadwick, S., Parnell, D., Widdop, P., Anagnostopoulos, C. (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Football Business and Management. Routledge,
Gillooly, L.K. (2017) 'Super League Magic Weekend: Using events to engage rugby league fans new and old.' International Cases in the Business of Sport. Routledge,
Gillooly, L. (2015) 'A sporting (mis)match?: Assessing the objectives pursued and evaluation measures employed by sports sponsors.' Routledge Handbook of Sports Marketing. Routledge, pp. 141-158.
Donlan, L. (2014) 'Sponsor and Partner Outcomes.' In Sharples, L., Crowther, D., May, D., Orefice, C. (ed.) Strategic Event Creation. Goodfellow Publishers,
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Reports
Gillooly, L., Medway, D. The Queue: A Guest’s Eye View.
Buraimo, B., Donlan, L., Godfrey, C., Ibbetson, A., Minten, S., Trimble, L. (2008) Coaching North West. UCLAN.
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Internet publications
Gillooly, L. (2018) World Cup 2018: The changing face of advertising and sponsorship. https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/7963/.
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Journal articles
Lock, D., Delia, E., Inoue, Y., Gillooly, L. (2023) 'Success interrupted: exploring how supporters interpret their team’s success in a postponed competition.' European Sport Management Quarterly,
Mills, C., Urquhart, C., Mackintosh, C., Gillooly, L. (2023) 'Modelling the organisational socialisation of volunteers in English associational golf clubs.' European Sport Management Quarterly,
Gillooly, L., Medway, D., Warnaby, G., Roper, S. (2021) '‘To us it’s still Boundary Park’: fan discourses on the corporate (re)naming of football stadia.' Social and Cultural Geography, 23(9) pp. 1275-1293.
Inoue, Y., Lock, D., Gillooly, L., Shipway, R., Swanson, S. (2021) 'The Organizational Identification and Well-being Framework: Theorizing about How Sport Organizations Contribute to Crisis Response and Recovery.' Sport Management Review, 25(1) pp. 1-30.
Fenton, A., Gillooly, L., Vasilica, C. (2021) 'Female fans and social media: micro-communities and the formation of social capital.' European Sport Management Quarterly, 23(2) pp. 370-390.
Gillooly, L., Medway, D., Warnaby, G., Grimes, A. (2020) 'The importance of context in understanding football fans’ reactions to corporate stadia naming rights sponsorships.' European Journal of Marketing, 54(7) pp. 1501-1522.
Medway, D., Roper, S., Gillooly, L.K. (2018) 'Contract cheating in UK higher education: A covert investigation of essay mills.' British Educational Research Journal, 44(3) pp. 393-418.
Medway, D., Warnaby, G., Gillooly, L., Millington, S. (2018) 'Scalar tensions in urban toponymic inscription: The corporate (re)naming of football stadia.' Urban Geography, 40(6) pp. 784-804.
Anagnostopoulos, C., Gillooly, L., Cook, D., Parganas, P., Chadwick, S. (2017) 'Stakeholder Communication in 140 Characters or Less: A Study of Community Sport Foundations.' VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 28(5) pp. 2224-2250.
Gillooly, L., Anagnostopoulos, C., Chadwick, S. (2017) 'Social media-based sponsorship activation – a typology of content.' Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal, 7(3) pp. 293-314.
Donlan, L., Crowther, P., Medway, D. (2017) 'Experiential sponsorship activation at a sports mega-event: The case of Cisco at London 2012..' Sport, Business, Management: an International Journal, 7(4) pp. 404-425.
Donlan, L. (2014) 'An empirical assessment of factors affecting the brand-building effectiveness of sponsorship.' Sports, Business and Management, 4(1) pp. 6-25.
Donlan, L. (2014) 'Exploring the views of students on the use of Facebook in university teaching and learning.' Journal of Further and Higher Education, 38(4) pp. 572-588.
Donlan, L., Crowther, P. (2014) 'Leveraging sponsorship to achieve consumer relationship objectives through the creation of 'marketing spaces': An exploratory study.' Journal of Marketing Communications, 20(4) pp. 291-306.
Donlan, L.K. (2013) 'The Role of Brand Knowledge in Determining Sponsorship Effectiveness.' Journal of Promotion Management, 19(2) pp. 241-264.
Crowther, P., Donlan, L. (2011) 'Value-creation space: The role of events in a service-dominant marketing paradigm.' Journal of Marketing Management, 27(13-14) pp. 1444-1463.
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Conference papers
Inoue, Y., Lock, D., Gillooly, L., Shipway, R., Swanson, S. (2021) 'The Organizational Identification and Well-being Framework: Theorizing the Contribution of Sport Organizations in Times of Crisis.' In North American Society for Sport Management Conference. Online,
Gillooly, L., Medway, D. (2022) 'The queuing experience at large events.' 5/7/2022 - 7/7/2022. Academy of Marketing,
Fenton, A., Vasilica, C., Gillooly, L., Vurtak, S. (2019) 'The Experiences of Female Football Fans on Social Media.' 3/9/2019 - 6/9/2019.
Gillooly, L.K., Anagnostopoulou, C., Chadwick, S. (2016) '#SponsorsOnTwitter: Developing a Typology of Sponsor-Generated Twitter Content.' In 45th European Marketing Association (EMAC) Annual Conference. Oslo, Norway, 24/5/2016 - 27/5/2016.
Donlan, L., Crowther, P., Medway, D. (2015) 'The Evolution of B2B Sponsorship Activation: From Corporate Hospitality to Experiential Sponsorship Activation.' In 44th European Marketing Association (EMAC) Annual Conference. Leuven, Belgium, 26/5/2015 - 29/5/2015.
Donlan, L. (2011) 'Intention Versus Reality: Exploring the Use of Facebook for Teaching and Learning in Three Sports Marketing Modules.' In Academy of Marketing Annual Conference. Liverpool, United Kingdom, 1/1/2011 - 1/1/2011.
Donlan, L. (2010) 'Sport Sponsorship as a Tool for Customer Engagement.' In Academy of Marketing Conference. Coventry, United Kingdom, 1/1/2010 - 1/1/2010.
Donlan, L. (2009) 'Profiling Contemporary Sports Sponsorship Objectives.' In Abstracts of the 17th Congress of the European Association for Sport Management. Amsterdam, 1/9/2009 - 1/9/2009. pp. 393-393.
Donlan, L. (2009) 'Determining the Brand-Building Success of Sponsorship.' In Academy of Marketing Annual Conference. Leeds, United Kingdom, 1/1/2009 - 1/1/2009. pp. 321-321.
Donlan, L. (2008) 'Sponsorship Effectiveness for New and Established Brands - The Role of Consumer Knowledge.' In 16th Congress of the European Association for Sport Management. Bayreuth/Heidelberg, Germany, 10/9/2008 - 13/9/2008. pp. 299-301.
Press and media
Media appearances or involvement
Live interview on Sponsorship in action sports. BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up To Money, 4 August 2021.
Live interview on European Super League proposals, BBC Radio 5 Live, 19 April 2021.
Live interview on Nike’s decision to stop selling products on Amazon, BBC Radio 5 Live Drive, 14 November 2019.
Recorded interview on Tiger Woods and sponsorship, BBC Radio Scotland, 15 April 2019.
Live interview on Tiger Woods and sponsorship. BBC News Channel, 15 April 2019.
Live interview on Tiger Woods and sponsorship. BBC World, 15 April 2019.
Live interview on Nike “exploding shoe” crisis. BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up To Money,22 February 2019
Live interview on Team Sky sponsorship. BBC Radio Three Counties, 12 December 2018
Gillooly, L. (2018) World Cup 2018: The changing face of advertising and sponsorship. Available at: https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/7963/ [Accessed 22 June 2018]
Live interview on marketing and the FIFA World Cup, BBC Radio Cumbria, 14 June 2018
Live interview on sponsor reactions to Australian cricket ball tampering scandal, BBC Radio 5 Live Drive, 26 March 2018
Quoted in: Whinnett, E. (2017) Send it like Beckham, Herald Sun, 11 February 2017.
Live interview on Olympic sponsorship, BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up To Money, 15 August 2016.
Live interview on Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba, Sky News with Dermot Murnaghan, 9 August 2016.
Recorded interview on The marketing behind Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba, Sky News Tonight with Adam Boulton and Sarah Hewson, 9 August 2016.
Recorded interview on Manchester United’s signing of Paul Pogba, Granada Reports, 9 August 2016.
Gillooly, L. (2016) Marketing and the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Part 1. Available at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/news/school-news/marketing-and-the-rio-2016-olympic-and-paralympic-games-part-1/ [Accessed 5 August 2016]
Gillooly, L. (2016) Wimbledon. Available at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/news/school-news/wimbledon/ [Accessed 12 July 2016 ]
Live interview on Sponsorship and the Great North Run, BBC Radio Newcastle, 29 June 2016.
Gillooly, L. (2016) Sponsorship activation at Euro 2016. Available at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/news/school-news/sponsorship-activation-at-euro-2016/ [Accessed 13 June 2016]
Gillooly, L. (2016) Sponsorship Perspectives on Euro 2016 by Dr Leah Gillooly. Available at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/news/expert-blog/sponsorship-perspectives-euro-2016/[Accessed 8 June 2016]
Quoted in: Ghosh, S. (2016) Adidas CEO’s Man United criticism paves the way for more sponsor meddling. Available at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1378345/adidas-ceos-man-united-criticism-paves-sponsor-meddling [Accessed 07 January 2016]
Gillooly, L. (2015) Why gambling sponsors could be relegated from the Premier League. Available at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1376368/why-gambling-sponsors-relegated-premier-league [Accessed 09 December 2015]
Quoted in: Barry, C. (2015) City’s China deal ‘too good to refuse.’ Available at: http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/728839-china-deal-too-good-to-refuse.html?news_section=4148 [Accessed 03 December 2015]
Gillooly, L. (2015) How football “mega deals” are propping up the top clubs. Available at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1375103/football-mega-deals-propping-top-clubs [Accessed 30 November 2015]
Gillooly, L. (2015) How Manchester United will become the highest grossing football club ever. Available at: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1373051/manchester-united-will-become-highest-grossing-football-club-ever [Accessed 17 November 2015] (also published in Media Week: http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1373051/manchester-united-will-become-highest-grossing-football-club-ever)
Quoted in: Doward, J. (2015) Nike fights on two fronts as brand is linked to bribery and doping allegations. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jun/06/nike-fifa-salazar-brazil-football-athletics-doping-allegations [Accessed 08 June 2015]
Live interview on Wimbledon, BBC Local Radio Mark Forrest Show, 23 December 2014.
Recorded interview on Black Friday, Granada Reports, 28 November 2014.
Recorded interview on Black Friday, Newsround, 28 November 2014. (http://bobnational.net/record/261698)
Recorded interview on Lewis Hamilton’s earning potential, BBC 6 O’clock News, 24 November 2014 (http://bobnational.net/record/260301)
Live studio interview on Oslo’s decision to pull out of bidding for 2022 Winter Olympics, BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, 3 October 2014.
Donlan, L. (2014) Value-conscious brands may shun joint sponsorship. Available at: http://www.educationpost.com.hk/resources/mba/140903-insights-value-conscious-brands-may-shun-joint-sponsorship [Accessed 11 September 2014]
Donlan, L. (2014) Adidas ‘Red Devils’ kit deal scores win-win triumph. Available at: http://www.educationpost.com.hk/resources/mba/140827-focus-adidas-red-devils-kit-deal-scores-win-win-triumph [Accessed 28 August 2014]
Quoted in: Thomasson, E. (2014) Analysis – Adidas marketing push an uphill battle against “cool” Nike. Available at: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/08/uk-adidas-nike-rivalry-idUKKBN0G81MR20140808 [Accessed 11 August 2014]. Syndicated by Yahoo, 4-Traders, Business Insider, Today Online, Share Net, India Times and MSN.
Donlan, L. (2014). Glasgow 2014: The battle for attention in a summer of sport. Available at: http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/07/21/glasgow-2014-battle-attention-summer-sport [Accessed 22 July 2014]
Donlan, L. (2014). Expert commentary: Dr Leah Donlan on Adidas’ sponsorship of Manchester United. Available at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/about-mbs/news/view/?guid=1047d846-e90d-4513-b779-a3bc7ab6e816 [Accessed 15 July 2014]
Live interview on Manchester United’s new kit sponsorship deal with Adidas, BBC Radio Manchester Allan Beswick, 15 July 2014.
Live interview on Manchester United’s new kit sponsorship deal with Adidas, Sky News, 14 July 2014. Available at: http://news.sky.com/story/1300690/manchester-united-sign-750m-adidas-deal [Accessed
15 July 2014]
Quoted in Bell, A. (2014). Experts ‘blown away’ by United’s monster £750m Adidas kit deal. Available at: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/manchester-united-adidas-kit-deal-7419173 [Accessed 14 July 2014]
Quoted in: Wilson, B. (2014). Manchester United and Adidas in £750m deal over 10 years. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28282444 [Accessed 14 July 2014]
Quoted in: Barry, C. (2014). Adidas tipped to score record United deal. Available at: http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/northwest/news/642896-adidas-tipped-to-score-record-united-deal.html?news_section=10968 [Accessed 14 July 2014]
Live studio interview on Football kit sponsorship deals, BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, 09 July 2014.
Quoted in: Clarke, C. (2014). The Bolt bonanza: Glasgow 2014 organisers and sponsors
enjoy boost from Usain Bolt’s participation. Available at: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/06/28/bolt-bonanza-glasgow-2014-organisers-and-sponsors-enjoy-boost-usain-bolts [Accessed 30 June 2014]
Donlan, L. (2014). Can Wimbledon compete with the World Cup for viewers? Available
at: http://www.mbs.ac.uk/about-mbs/news/view/?guid=0c6acc86-8df7-49e7-afc8-726c7d26e21a [Accessed 30 June 2014]
Donlan, L. (2014). With clever marketing, Wimbledon can compete with the World Cup for viewers. Available at: http://theconversation.com/with-clever-marketing-wimbledon-can-compete-with-the-world-cup-for-viewers-28290 [Accessed 24 June 2014]
Live studio interview on Differences in sponsorship approaches between Wimbledon and the World Cup, BBC Radio 5 Live Wake Up To Money, 23 June 2014. Syndicated by BBC Radio Tees, Oxford, Stoke,
Coventry and Warwickshire, Sussex, Humberside, Ulster, Newcastle and BBC Guernsey.