19.06.2023

Successful Early Career Researchers in Sports Economics

Kenneth Colombe receives a Decision Education Research Scholarship Award by the renowned Alliance for Decision Education – Dr. Tim Wallrafen receives the Best Paper by a Junior Researcher Award by the Industrial Organization Society – Dr. Felix Mutter is appointed as Head of Operations at the German Football Association (DFB).

We are proud about some good news for three former/current early career researchers in sports economics (AB Pawlowski).

Kenneth Colombe has recently received a Decision Education Research Scholarship Award by the renowned Alliance for Decision Education for presenting his work on NBA Mock Drafts in Philadelphia (USA) (press release).

“I show how one can leverage sports to teach decision-making skills. Using my Master's thesis, completed at Maastricht University, the concept of Mock Drafts in the National Basketball Association (NBA) was identified as a potentially influential and biased source of third-party information impacting team roster construction decision-making. Through this, I was able to highlight how public discourse, which Mock Drafts often mimic, in general, can impact decisions through various biases and heuristics commonly drawn upon. Also, suggestions were given on how to avoid the shortcomings.” (Kenneth Colombe)

Colombe developed this work during his studies in the M.Sc. Human Decision Science program at Maastricht University and recently joined the research team in sports economics for doing his PhD in Tübingen.

Dr. Tim Wallrafen, now working at Behinderten- und Rehabilitationssportverband Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. has received the Best Paper by a Junior Researcher Award by the Industrial Organization Society for his paper on Competition and fan substitution between professional sports leagues (co-authored by Dr. Georgios Nalbantis and Professor Tim Pawlowski).

Dr. Felix Mutter, who earned his PhD already in 2014, was recently appointed as Head of Operations at the German Football Association (DFB). After holding positions at PwC, EY and in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte the focus of his work is now put on the project and process management for one of the biggest professional associations in world sport.

Congratulations!