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Close-up headshot of Laurel Walzak smiling. She has straight dark hair, glasses, and is wearing hoop earrings, a white top, and a dark blazer.

Laurel Walzak

Associate Professor; Director, Global Sports and Entertainment Impact Research (formerly GXSLab)
DepartmentSport Media
EducationPhD Management, Marketing and People, London South Bank University, United Kingdom. Degree Status: In- Progress; Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Business Implications, at MIT Sloan School of Management, CSAIL. Status: Completed 2023; Master of Business Administration (Executive MBA), Finance Elective, Queen's University, Smith School of Business, Kingston, Ontario. Degree Status: Completed 2014; Certificate of Achievement, Chinese Global Business Economy, China Europe International Business School, CEIBS, Shanghai, China. Certificate Status: Completed October 2013; Post Graduate Diploma, Sport and Event Marketing, George Brown College, Toronto, Canada. Diploma Status: Completed; Bachelor of Arts (BA), Anthropology, University of Western Ontario (Now Western University), London, Canada. Degree Status: Completed
Memberships/ServicesFederation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP), Committee; European Association for Sport Management; Advisory Board, Sport and Society, Common Ground Research Networks https://sportandsociety.com/about/advisory-board.; London South Bank University - Behavioural Research Group https://www.lsbu.ac.uk/research/centres-groups/behavioural-research-group#content2-406017
https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurelwalzak/; https://gxslab.com/

Biography

Walzak is an Associate Professor of RTA Sport Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2018, she founded the Global Experiential Sport Lab, known as GXSLab, a leading global sport media and sport technology research lab, where scholarly research intersects with industry practice.

Walzak has co-authored two books on the topic of Global Sport Media Vectors. Walzak recently signed two additional book manuscripts with Common Ground Research Network: Sport Media Vectors – Auto Racing: Revitalization of Brands and the Globalization of Audiences, and Sport Media Vectors: Sport Technology, Esport Ecosystems and the Global Future Outlook, to be published Fall 2026.

Walzak has worked with and/or for blue-chip corporations, professional sport organizations and broadcasters and served on government-appointed and sport-related Board of Directors. Walzak serves on the Hype Sports Innovation, AI Workshop Series Steering Committee and Common Ground Research Networks Advisory Board.

Walzak has an MBA, with a focus on finance, Smith School of Business, Queen's University. She is doing her PhD at London South Bank University's Business School, UK, with a focus on sport media and fandom. Her research area at LSBU is in the Behavioural Research Group (BRG) lies at the intersection of several behavioural science disciplines, drawing on theory and methods from economics, management, marketing, organizational studies, mathematics, among other fields. Walzak also has a Certificate in Artificial Intelligence for Business Implications from the MIT Sloan School of Management, CSAIL.

In 2025, Walzak serves as an Academic Guest at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in the Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA).

Overall, Walzak's scholarly research interests intersect with industry practice.  Her research area at LSBU is in the Behavioural Research Group (BRG) which lies at the intersection of several behavioural science disciplines, drawing on theory and methods from economics, management, psychology, marketing, organizational studies, among other fields.
  • Sport Technology and Applied AI Research - Contributions to the emerging field of sports and media management
  • Audience/s Research: Competition for audience attention in sport is intense. Fan behaviours and how to market and commercialize fans are top of mind
  • Gender Equity in Sport Research - Contribute to meaningful discussion about inequities for women in sports with action for systemic change and women empowerment. Inclusive of ability; age, race, gender, sexual orientation

  • Walzak, L., Vern, C., Vernhout, H., and Mannarn, M., University Sport and Mascot Rebranding: A Case Study of the TMU Bold and Their New Mascot, Article Submission, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Submitted May, 2025.
  • Dubois, L.-E., & Walzak, L. (2025). Blind scouting: using artificial intelligence to alleviate bias in selection. Personnel Review, 54(4), 9533970. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2024-0130.
  • Walzak, L. (2022). Serving Equality: Feminism, Media, and Women's Sports: by Cheryl Cooky and Dunja Antunovic, Peter Lang, 2022, 262 pp., 47.95 (ebook), ISBN9781433163869, 47.95 (softcover), ISBN 9781433163845.
  • Walzak, L. M., Vidotto, D., & Collura, F. (Eds.). (2021). Sport Media Vectors: Gender and Diversity, Reconstructing the Field. Common Ground Research Networks.
  • Walzak, L., & Recupero, J. (Eds.). (2021). Sport media vectors: digitization, expanding audiences, and the globalization of live sport. Common Ground Research Networks.
  • Vocino, M., & Walzak, L. (2020). The Impact of Habit Trackers, Healthy Lifestyles and Exercise Motives of University Students in Toronto. RAIS Journal for Social Sciences, 4(2), 20-29.
  • AUTHORED CHAPTERS IN BOOKS SUBMITTED AND OR PUBLISHED:
    • Book Chapter - Laurel Walzak, Louis-Etienne Dubois (2025). Geopolitical Economy of Esports, Routledge, Edited by Simon Chadwick, Paul Widdop and Michael M. Goldman, submitted and accepted.
    • Book Chapter - Laurel Walzak, Danica Vidotto, & Francesco Collura. (2021). Sport Media Vectors: Gender and Diversity, Reconstructing the Field. Common Ground Research Networks. Sport & Society, 2021, Chapter 4: Muslim Women's Experiences of Sport and Sport Culture in Toronto Laurel Walzak and Danica Vidotto, Ph.D, Laurel Walzak, et al. Common Ground Research Networks, 2021, 62-79.
    • Book Chapter - Sport Media Vectors: Digitization, Expanding, Audiences, and the Globalization of Live Sport. Walzak, L. Chapter Title: Exploring sport fan expectations: A pilot study of a sport broadcast vs. a simulated sport streamcast (2020) Chapter 4, 57-73 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/978-1-86335-221-5/CGP, Publisher: Common Ground. Research Network. Publish Date: August 2020. 
  • MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED IN-PROGRESS
    Common Ground Research Networks (www.cgnetworks.org) has awarded Laurel Walzak, Associate Professor, RTA Sport Media at The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Managing Director, Global Experiential Sport Lab (GXSLab), and Marco Henriques Pereira, PhD, Managing Director Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA), University of Zurich, the honours of publishing a new book imprint called: Sport Media Vectors and Auto Racing (final name to be determined).

  • 2023 Nominated for AVP International Award, TMU.
  • 2022 Recipient of Faculty Dean’s Service Award, TMU.
  • 2020 Recipient of the Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award, TMU.
  • 2016 Recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards - The Honourable Michael Chan Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade (5-Years of Service).
  • 2011 Nominated for Premier of Ontario, Honorable Dalton McGuinty, Premier's Awards Outstanding Graduate in Business 'Outstanding Ontarian'.