Leadership

Ben Shields is a Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he teaches MBA courses on communication and technology. He also teaches Analytics Management: Business Lessons from the Sports Data Revolution in the Executive Education program.

His research focuses on the intersection of social media technologies, data analytics, and audience behavior in the sports, media, and entertainment industries. His most recent book is Social Media Management: Persuasion in Networked Culture (Oxford University Press, 2017). He’s also written The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry (Oxford University Press, 2015) and The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (McGraw-Hill, 2006). In addition, Shields is featured on “3 Points,” a basketball analytics segment produced by Comcast SportsNet New England. He served previously as the Director of Social Media and Marketing at ESPN.

He holds a PhD in media, technology, and society from Northwestern University.