Dr. Kunkel is a Professor in the Sport and Recreation Management Department at the School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.
Dr. Kunkel’s research is positioned on the intersection of strategic management and marketing. He is specialized in examining consumer engagement in a digital environment and investigating brand relationships within different brand portfolios to provide insights into the positioning of individuals and companies in a competitive environment.
His research expertise in relation to athlete brand development and monetization, particular with a focus on student-athletes, has guided Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy decisions of major sport organizations and received national media attention. He has consulted sport teams, sponsors, mobile app developers and athletes on their brand positioning, fan engagement and sponsorship activation.
Dr. Kunkel has presented his research at over 80 national and international conferences and published over 50 peer-reviewed articles in top marketing and sport management journals. He is a member of the editorial board of Sport Management Review, European Sport Management Quarterly and Sport Marketing Quarterly. Dr. Kunkel’s contribution to the field of sport management has been recognized by the American Marketing Association from which he received the Emerging Scholar in Sport Marketing in 2018, the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) where he was inducted as a lifetime Research Fellow in 2018 and the Sport Marketing Association where he was awarded a lifetime Research Fellow in 2024. He has been on the dissertation committee of nine graduated Ph.D. students and was the primary advisor of two Ph.D. students who won the NASSM Student Research competition.
Dr. Kunkel holds a Ph.D. in Business from Griffith University, Australia, a Diplom in Business Administration and in Business and Economic Education from Saarland University, Germany.