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A Post-Pandemic Exploration of International Student-Athlete Personal Branding and Fan Interaction via Social Media

The population of international student-athletes (ISAs) at the collegiate level has dramatically impacted the sporting landscape in North America. Whereas a passionate group of fans is vital to the success of a sports team, the development of that athlete–fan relationship has grown due to the increased media attention on athlete personal branding and social media presence. The present study explores ISAs’ perceptions of social media use for personal branding, the challenges they face, and the extent to which they interact with fans through social media in a post-pandemic context. Athletes have pivoted more recently from personal appearances and other face-to-face interactions to more virtual means of interacting with fans. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with ISAs from various sports within Divisions I and II of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Four main themes emerged: (1) social media consumption versus content creation, (2) effects of name, image, and likeness regulations, (3) personal brand building on social media, and (4) fan interaction on social media for ISAs. The study aims to inform various collegiate athletics stakeholders on the potential value of ISAs’ personal branding for fan interaction and how this has been impacted by current name, image, and likeness restrictions.