A native of Florida, Dr. Matt Bernthal received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Valparaiso University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. (1999) in Business Administration, both concentrated in marketing, from The University of South Carolina. Outside of academia, Dr. Bernthal has worked in retail management and marketing research, where he primarily focused on new business feasibility and customer satisfaction. He has taught courses in Marketing Principles, Consumer Behavior, and Marketing Research at the University of South Carolina College of Business. He also taught undergraduate and graduate courses for 18 years in the Department of Sport & Entertainment Management at the University of South Carolina, teaching courses such as Integrated Marketing Communications in Sport & Entertainment Management, Services Marketing in Sport & Entertainment, Ethics in Sport & Entertainment Business, and Principles of Sport & Entertainment Marketing, among others.
Dr. Bernthal’s research interests lie in the areas of consumer behavior and sport and entertainment marketing. He has published numerous research articles appearing in the Journal of Consumer Research, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing, School Psychology International, Journal of Sport Behavior, SMART Journal, Journal of Sponsorship, Marketing News, and other outlets. He has authored numerous book chapters, serves on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, and has consulted with various firms, primarily in the sport and entertainment industries. At the University of South Carolina, he was named the 2002 Distinguished Researcher and Scholar of the Year in the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management. He received the USC Mortar Board’s Excellence in Teaching Award in the 2007/2008 academic year, and the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management's 2016 Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.