Richard Luker

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Dr. Richard Luker is best known for his creation of the ESPN Sports Poll which began in 1994 and was acknowleded by Sporting News as a key industry tool in 1996^[1]. The Sports Poll was the first dedicated ongoing intelligence service to collect information from Americans on their interests and activities related to sports. Virtually all of the major professional and college sports have been clients of the ESPN Sports Poll. In addition, more than 50 of the major sports sponsoring companies, including Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Nike, Inc., VISA, and General Motors, and half of the major sports media, including Sports Illustrated, FOX, ABC and Turner have been Sports Poll clients.

After creating the Sports Poll, Rich realized there were few true strategies for developing and activating sports, leisure and free time consumer experiences. Since 1997, Rich has probably done more strategy development projects for major American properties and brands than any other individual. Some of Dr. Luker’s recent consulting clients include Anheuser-Busch, BellSouth, Cingular, ESPN, General Motors, SBC, NIKE, The NFL, NHL, NCAA, Sony, and Sports Illustrated. In addition, Rich makes presentations to conferences, companies and organizations involved in sports and leisure.

Rich Luker joined Relay Worldwide as their first Chief Strategy Officer in 2006. In that role, Dr. Luker is creating the first research driven global strategy for matching brand building capabilities with consumer experiences that are remembered for life. Rich is continuing his 25 years of social research on leisure and free time activity, serving as a leading authority on American social activity. Luker is also well known for his research on the impact of dynamic social change on leisure activity and consumer behavior.

Richard Luker earned his M.A. in psychology and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in a joint communication and psychology doctoral program. While at Michigan, Rich received training and worked in the Institute for Social Research. After graduating, Dr. Luker joined the faculty of Temple University in the Radio-TV-Film department where he worked primarily with doctoral students conducting large national studies on media effects.

Prior to his sports work, Luker was known for his new and creative research techniques designed to better understand the impact of entertainment and marketing messages on TV and in films. His innovative designs have been written about in Ad Age, The New York Times^[2] and other major press. Results from his research have been published and reported in major academic conferences.

Rich remains very active in academic work as well. In 2007, Luker joined Northwestern University's teaching faculty of the School of Continuing Studies^[3]. In 2005, Dr. Luker was named the Woodard Family Senior Research Fellow in the Warsaw Center at the University of Oregon^[4]. Rich has been an Associate Professor of Business in the Haab School of Business, Concordia University^[5] and Adjunct Associate Professor, Division of Kinesiology, University of Michigan off and on since 1998^[6].

With constant access to data from Americans, regular contact with senior executives from all areas of sport and leisure, and numerous presentations annually, Rich is among the best connected professionals in sport and leisure marketing today.

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