Expertise

Topics:  Sports Marketing, Marketing Management/Strategy, Marketing, Applied Economics, Celebrity Endorsements

Industries: Advertising/Marketing

Tim Derdenger is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and was the Frank and Helen Risch Faculty Development Professor in Business for AYs 2014-2016. Professor Derdenger also coordinates the Technology Strategy & Product Management Track for Tepper MBA students whose interest lead them to employment in technology firms.

Prior to Carnegie Mellon, Tim earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Southern California and a B.B.A. from The George Washington University. His research interests are divided into two areas: the study of technology and sports markets. Within technology, his research focuses on platform markets with emphasis on bundling, tying and exclusive arrangements in dynamic environments as well as empirical methodologies to estimate dynamic demand models for technology products using aggregate sales data. With sports markets, his research is centered around celebrity endorsements and how to optimize their impact on product sales.

He has publications in Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, Quantitative Marketing and Economics, Marketing Letters, and Customer Needs and Solutions. He is also an Associate Editor for Management Science (Marketing), a guest associate editor for the Journal of Marketing Research and a former member of the editorial review board for Marketing Science.

Media Experience

Dating choices or draft picks — the cognitive science behind either is similar, CMU professors say  — TribLive
“The ones that make the best decisions plan for all possibilities,” Derdenger said. “They call it the war room, and in a war room, things change and you have to have people and processes in place to make clear and decisive decisions.” (Read the article for more expert commentary from Tim Derdenger)

How hosting the NFL Draft has long boosted a city’s market value  — The Independent
If Pittsburgh measures NFL draft success strictly by hotel bookings and weekend beer sales, it has missed the point. Because the draft moves from city to city each year, the true return on investment isn’t found in a temporary spike in local revenues. It is found in brand equity – the long-term increase in a city’s “market value” and reputation. Detroit leveraged the draft in 2024 not just to host a massive party, but to also aggressively counter persistent narratives of urban decay and to highlight investments made in the city. The broadcast shots of a vibrant, packed downtown did far more to modernize Detroit’s image than any taxpayer-funded ad campaign ever could. (Tim Derdenger authored this article. Read the piece to hear more about his expert take on a city's benefit of hosting a mega-event)

Why this CMU professor says NIL has created more parity in college football  — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tim Derdenger’s research with co-author Ivan Li found that NIL has led to more parity in college football, with closer games, more upsets and greater talent distribution. “[NIL has] led to fantastic outcomes for college football,” Derdenger told the Post-Gazette. “It's brought more competition into the league and into the games. It's great for fans. It's great for the players.” (Read the article for more expert commentary from Tim Derdenger)

Sports Sponsorship Is Reaching Record Highs, Led By Shohei Ohtani And MLB  — Forbes
“The play for these brands, and wanting to spend millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars in sports marketing, is to reach interested and captive audiences more efficiently,” says Tim Derdenger, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. “Using technology to reach customers and personalize those messages for them is going to be a key player in the growth of sponsorship across the leagues.” (Read the article for more expert commentary from Tim Derdenger)