Sports Trends for 2026

The Bundesliga just handed broadcasting rights to YouTube creators, Ligue 1 terminated its broadcaster after one season to build its own platform, and private equity firms invested $500 million into American college athletics in a single quarter. Not moves native to the traditional sport landscape.

But that is because sport is no longer following traditional models. These striking shifts signal a fundamental reorganisation of how sport creates and captures value. As 2026 unfolds, the industry’s traditional certainties around broadcasting, ownership and athlete control are being actively dismantled. In their place are more fluid systems where fans expect flexibility, athletes pursue independence and investors look for scalable platforms rather than singular assets.

Tracking the next rights deal or headline sponsorship is not the way to understand the trends that will change the business of sport in 2026. Rather, it is about recognising how sport is reorganising itself, commercially and culturally, as digital distribution and alternative ownership models become embedded across the ecosystem.

Where there is disruption comes opportunity – not just for capital seekers but also multi-media companies, agents (both AI or otherwise), niche technology start-ups, fan experience insight data-hubs, and this isn’t scratching the surface.
So, what does that mean for you? For us? For them?

Key trends reshaping the sport industry in 2026

Direct to consumer broadcasting moves into the mainstream

Leagues are actively reducing reliance on single broadcast partners in favour of multi-platform strategies that prioritise reach, the capture and use of audience data and optionality.

The Bundesliga’s recent rights split across traditional broadcasters, streaming services and creator led channels reflects a broader shift. Ligue 1 has gone further, launching its own in-house platform, Ligue 1+, following the breakdown of its partnership with DAZN in May 2025. To add to this, UEFA is preparing a major shake-up of its broadcast deals. This rejig could see Netflix, Disney and Amazon bidding for exclusive global rights to one Champions League match per round in 2027.

Fragmented distribution gives leagues control over data and direct relationships with fans but introduces operational complexity and risks fragmenting audiences. The trade-off is clear: higher potential revenue and richer fan data, but at the cost of guaranteed reach and production consistency. Success will depend on whether leagues can manage this complexity without alienating fans who now need multiple subscriptions to follow their team.

Stadiums evolve into multi-use commercial hubs

Modern sports venues are increasingly designed around utilisation rather than capacity. The most valuable stadiums are those that operate year-round, hosting sport entertainment, hospitality, commercial events and community activity in parallel.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has demonstrated how mixed-use design can materially shift revenue performance. Revenue from non-football income grew to £227m for the year in just four seasons since the stadium’s opening (after many doubted they could reap back to cost of that infamous stadium). Real Madrid expect to generate more than €400m of revenue from the Santiago Bernabeu this season, with stadium tours, events, catering and concerts as the building blocks of this strategy. Similar thinking underpins developments at Everton and Birmingham City where adaptability is central to the business case.

This evolution redefines what a sports venue actually is. Tottenham’s stadium now generates more from concerts, NFL games and the visitor experience than many clubs earn from matchday football entirely. The asset has become the infrastructure itself, rather than the team playing there. This shift will only become more apparent in 2026 and beyond. As private equity investors expand their presence across sport, the need for diversified, predictable revenue streams will mean stadium-owning clubs emerge as more attractive and defensible investment targets.

Athletes take greater control of commercial identity

Athletes are increasingly building independent commercial platforms that extend beyond traditional sponsorship arrangements. New tools, such as those offered by Grandstand, enable direct fan engagement, content creation and personalised commerce, allowing athletes to monetise their followings on their own terms.

The inception of platforms like Grandstand reflects a wider shift toward athlete-owned media strategy and data control. Athletes are building media companies, launching investment funds and monetising their intellectual property independently. When a footballer can generate seven figures annually from their personal brand without club involvement, traditional sponsorship structures built on collective bargaining lose leverage.

As the balance between institutional control and individual ownership continues to shift gradually towards the athlete, organisations must prepare to negotiate for access to their own players’ commercial rights, a reversal that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

Digitally oriented competitions challenge traditional league models

A new generation of competitions is emerging with formats designed specifically for digital consumption. Leagues such as Kings League, Baller League and World Sevens Football prioritise short form play, creator involvement and free access distribution.

These formats are optimised for engagement speed and social sharing rather than heritage or geography. Their growth reflects the scale and loyalty of creator audiences and the increasing influence of digital personalities in shaping sport narratives.

For established leagues this represents both competitive pressure and a source of insight. Many of the mechanics driving engagement in digital-first competitions are transferable to traditional formats. As these competitions continue to grow in popularity, incumbents will be forced to take notice and adapt their formats, distribution and commercial strategies in 2026 and beyond.

Prediction markets continue to reshape sports betting

Sports betting is beginning to shift toward exchange-based models where users trade outcome contracts rather than betting against fixed odds set by a bookmaker. In these prediction markets, prices fluctuate continuously in real time as participants buy and sell positions, reflecting collective sentiment and live information flow in a way more akin to financial markets than traditional wagering. While still a small (but growing) share of regulated betting activity, this structure introduces greater complexity and dynamism into how sporting outcomes are priced and traded. This structure attracts fans who want to participate more actively rather than passively consume outcomes. By tying price movement directly to live information and sentiment, prediction markets turn matches into continuously evolving events, encouraging fans to follow games more closely, react faster and stay engaged beyond the final whistle.

Regulation will be one of the most decisive factors shaping the future of prediction markets. Ongoing disputes over whether sports event contracts fall under financial market oversight or gambling regulation, like the recent federal ruling in Tennessee, will determine how widely these platforms can be distributed, which partners can host them and how deeply they can integrate into mainstream sports coverage. The outcome of these regulatory decisions will influence whether prediction markets remain a niche product or become a core layer of the sports betting and media ecosystem.

The challenge for leagues will be ensuring that innovation in betting enhances engagement without undermining competitive integrity or public trust.

Private equity deepens its role across sport

Something we harked on about in 2025 – but something not going away. Private equity investment in sport continues to broaden, moving beyond professional teams into league infrastructure and collegiate athletics. Recent deals in US college sport, including the University of Utah’s $500m partnership with Otro Capital and the Big 12’s negotiations with RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital for a credit deal, also worth up to $500m, signal a recalibration of which assets are considered investable. In European football, M&A deal activity jumped astoundingly from €66.7 million in 2018 to approximately €2.2 billion in 2024, with multi-club ownership structures now controlling stakes in nearly 42% of Europe’s Big Five league clubs.

The scale of institutional involvement is now substantial. As of the 2025-26 season, 20 of 30 NBA teams and 18 of 30 MLB teams have connections to private equity funding, with the sector holding significant positions across other major leagues.

This capital brings commercial discipline and growth expectations that can accelerate transformation, particularly in areas such as direct-to-consumer platforms, venue optimisation and data analytics. It also introduces new governance considerations, particularly where sporting values and financial timelines diverge. Private equity firms typically seek exits within five to ten years, while sports organisations operate on generational timescales.

Further expansion of private capital across the sport ecosystem is likely through 2026. The challenge for organisations will be harnessing this capital to improve commercial operations and infrastructure without undermining competitive integrity or eroding the cultural identity that gives sport its value in the first place.

AI-enabled commerce changes how fans spend

Artificial intelligence is beginning to rear its head in sport commerce. Morgan Stanley have identified ‘simplified shopping integrations’ as a $130bn opportunity, indicating a significant revenue-driving opportunity for sports organisations. Conversational interfaces embedded within club and league platforms allow fans to browse, customise and purchase tickets or merchandise with minimal friction.

For organisations with strong direct-to-consumer foundations, this creates opportunities to improve conversion and personalise engagement. The value lies not only in efficiency but in strengthening the relationship between fan and brand through continuous interaction.

AI-driven commerce is set to become a standard component of the fan experience.

Inclusive and social sport continues to expand participation

Inclusive and social forms of sport continue to draw in new audiences, creating a bigger potential market than ever before. Women’s football and rugby have reached record attendance levels while attracting larger broadcast deals and sustained investment. Padel has expanded rapidly in the UK with participation rising by more than 2,500% since 2019, and pickleball has become the fastest growing sport in the United States. Together these signals point to a lasting broadening of the sport audience rather than a short-lived surge.

Much of this growth is driven by accessibility and strong community dynamics, alongside closer alignment with health, social and wellbeing priorities. As participation widens, the commercial landscape evolves with it, opening opportunities for new partners, formats and revenue models that sit outside traditional structures.

Sporting success is increasingly measured by reach, relevance and the ability to engage a more diverse audience.

But, what does this mean for us?

Whether you’re a business mogul looking for your next financial opportunity or a fan keeping on top of the latest sports news, what is clear is our modern sporting matrix is doubling down in 2026.
The sporting asset class will evolve into a set of multi-dimensional portfolios, where value is created across diversified assets rather than concentrated in single teams.
Traditional revenue streams remain important, but they are increasingly disjointed, differentiated and in constant flux.

Growth, meanwhile, is driven by experimentation. Bold ideas matter, but execution decides the winners.
Athletes and audiences now sit firmly at the centre of this ecosystem – more influential, more fragmented and harder to serve at scale than ever before.
As a result, data and digital strategies are shifting away from volume and towards insight, with deeper understanding emerging as the source of long-term value.

The organisations that succeed will be the ones that recognise these changes as connected rather than isolated. Building flexible operating models and investing in direct relationships will be essential as competition intensifies and traditional certainties continue to erode.