Dr Payam Ansari
- pansari at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
- http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7880-586X
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Payam-Ansari
- Lecturer in Sport and Event Management
- Keywords:
- Consumer Behaviour
- Content analysis
- Creative Research Methods
- Ethnography
- Events Management
- Experimental Research
- Fan Engagement
- Gender and Diversity
- Marketing
- Mixed Methods
- PhD Supervisor
- Qualitative methodology
- Sport Fandom
- Sport management
- Sport participation and experience
- Sporting identities
- Sports events
- Virtual Reality
- Women's Sports
Biography
Dr Payam Ansari is a Lecturer in Sport and Events Management and Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Events Management at Bournemouth University Business School. His expertise lies in sport marketing, fan experience, and engagement, bringing together academic rigor with industry insight. He has taught across a range of Sport and Events Management subjects and draws on significant professional experience, including senior managerial roles in the sport industry.
A former Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Research Fellow, Payam is strongly committed to research excellence. At Dublin City University, he led a two-year fellowship project focused on increasing fan engagement and enhancing commercialisation in women’s football. He is currently leading a British Academy–funded project mapping the fan journey in women’s football. His research continues to explore fan engagement, particularly in women’s football, alongside the professionalisation of the women’s game. He has published in respected journals such as Journal of Sports Economics and Managing Sport and Leisure, and regularly presents at international conferences across Europe and Asia...
Before entering academia, Payam worked extensively in the sport industry, most notably as Head of Marketing at the Football Federation of Iran. He has hands-on experience in sponsorship, activation, event management, and fan engagement, and has contributed to organising major events including the 2018 AFC Champions League Final and international matches. These experiences continue to shape his applied approach to teaching and research and supervision.
An advocate for inclusive education, Payam applies the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in his teaching practice. His philosophy centres on removing barriers to learning and embedding Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion into all aspects of teaching, ensuring students have equal opportunities to succeed. Having studied and worked across Iran, Malaysia, Ireland, and the UK, he brings a deep understanding of diversity and its role in fostering integration and preparing students for a globalised world.
Throughout his career, Payam has employed a wide range of research methodologies. His PhD used an experimental, design-based approach to develop an entrepreneurship course for sport students. His Marie Curie fellowship involved extensive ethnographic research and a co-creation participatory approach to design a fan engagement framework for women’s football teams. He is particularly interested in supervising PhD projects on sport fandom, fan engagement, the marketing of/through women’s sport, and the use of new technologies, such as Virtual Reality, to create immersive experiences in women’s sport and beyond.
moreExpertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDGs:
Quality education
"Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all"
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
"Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation"
Journal Articles
- Cheong, J.P.G., Ansari, P. et al., 2025. A multi-country and region comparison of the news coverage of the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12 (1).
- Chiew, T.K., Khoo, S., Ansari, P. and Kiruthika, U., 2024. Mobile and wearable technologies for persons with disabilities: a bibliometric analysis (2000–2021). Disability and Rehabilitation Assistive Technology, 19 (3), 994-1002.
- Baecker, N., Ansari, P. and Schreyer, D., 2024. Formula 1 Grands Prix demand across different distribution channels. Managing Sport and Leisure, 29 (6), 869-882.
- Khoo, S., Ansari, P., John, J. and Brooke, M., 2022. The Top 50 Most Cited Articles on Special Olympics: A Bibliometric Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (16).
- Schreyer, D. and Ansari, P., 2022. Stadium Attendance Demand Research: A Scoping Review. Journal of Sports Economics, 23 (6), 749-788.
- Khoo, S., Ansari, P. and Morris, T., 2021. Sport and exercise psychology research from the Asian and South Pacific region: A bibliometric analysis. Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1 (1), 21-29.
- Khoo, S., Mohbin, N., Ansari, P., Al-Kitani, M. and Müller, A.M., 2021. Mhealth interventions to address physical activity and sedentary behavior in cancer survivors: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (11).
- Ansari, P., Khoo, S. and Ismail, M.N., 2020. Designing and developing a sport entrepreneurship course: an educational design-based study. Entrepreneurship Education.
- Khoo, S., Li, C. and Ansari, P., 2018. The Top 50 Most Cited Publications in Disability Sport: A Bibliometric Analysis. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 125 (3), 525-545.
- Müller, A.M., Ansari, P., Ebrahim, N.A. and Khoo, S., 2016. Physical Activity and Aging Research: A Bibliometric Analysis. J Aging Phys Act, 24 (3), 476-483.
Chapters
- Kavanagh, E. and Ansari, P., 2024. Safe Sport. In: Pedersen, P.M., ed. Encyclopedia of Sport Management. London: Edward Elgar Publishing, 820.
- Ansari, P. and Schreyer, D., 2024. Mega sports event TV demand: Synthesis and outlook. Research Handbook on Major Sporting Events. 258-270.
- Ansari, P. and Schreyer, D., 2024. Attendance. Encyclopedia of Sport Management Second Edition. 72-73.
- Kavanagh, E. and Ansari, P., 2024. Safe sport. Encyclopedia of Sport Management Second Edition. 822-823.
Conferences
- Ansari, P. and Tabrizi, R.S., 2012. Knowledge Management impact on Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Malaysian study. Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 4042-4051.
PhD Students
- Zahra Eskandari. Beyond “excluded exclusions”? Bridging the knowledge gap between policy stakeholders and (forced) migrant women engagement with physical activity in the South-West of England, (In progress)
Profile of Teaching PG
- Organisations, Strategy and Finance
Profile of Teaching UG
- Event Design
- Marketing The Experience
Grants
- Beyond the Sidelines: Mapping the Fan Journey in Women's Football (BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grants Scheme 2024, 01 Nov 2024). Awarded
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA IF): Developing Fan Engagement For Increasing Participation, Attendance and Commercial Value in Women's Football (European Commission, 01 Oct 2021). Completed
- Design, Implementing and Evaluation of an Entrepreneurship Module for Students of Social Sciences (University of Malaya (Internal Grant), 01 Aug 2019). Completed
- Commercialisation of Blind Football in Malaysia (University of Malaya (Internal Grant), 01 Mar 2019). Completed
Public Engagement & Outreach Activities
- Web article published on The Journal: “To improve women’s football in Ireland we should avoid the mistakes made by the men's game” (17 Jul 2023)
- 'Science is Wonderful! 2023’ (01 Feb 2023)
- Web article published on RTE: ‘The opportunity of a lifetime’ for Irish women’s soccer? (17 Oct 2022)
- 'Science is Wonderful! 2021’ (26 Nov 2021)
- 2022 European Researchers’ Night
Conference Presentations
- International Conference on CRYPTO-Marketing, NFTs, utility tokens and soccer: An exploratory data analysis of legitimisation messaging and manipulative practices., 05 Dec 2022, Columbia Business School, NYC, USA
- 30th conference of the European Association for Sport Management (EASM2022), Women’s Football Fandom in Ireland: An Ethnographic Study., 05 Sep 2022, Innsbruck, Austria
- Media, Sport and Ireland Symposium, Factors shaping contemporary women’s football fandom in Ireland., 19 May 2022, Galway, Ireland.
- GENMAC (Gender, Markets, Consumers), Women’s Football in Ireland: Fandom and Fan Engagement, 15 May 2022, Stockholm, Sweden
- Learning, Improvement and Teaching Enhancement Conference (LITEC2020), Design, Developing, Implementing and Evaluation of an Entrepreneurship Module for Students of Social Sciences., 25 Aug 2020, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 11th Asian Association for Sport Management Conference (AASM 2015), Entrepreneurial Intentions in Sport Academic: An Exploratory Study, 26 Aug 2015, Langkawi, Malaysia
- 4th International Conference on Management, Finance & Entrepreneurship (ICMFE-2015), Entrepreneurship education in sports: Issues and challenges, 11 Apr 2015, Medan, Indonesia
- 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Knowledge Management Impact on Corporate Entrepreneurship: A Malaysian Study., 04 Jan 2012, Hawaii, USA
- 4th International Conference on E-commerce with Focus on Developing Countries, Knowledge management in small and medium enterprises, 03 Nov 2009, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Memberships
- American Marketing Association (AMA), Member,
- European Association for Sport Management (EASM), Member,
- International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA), Member,
- Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB), Associate, https://iidb.ie/
- Marie Curie Alumni Association, Member, https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/
Social Media Links
- Author's Website, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Payam-Ansari
- LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/payamansari/
- Twitter, @payam_ansari