Insider Sport’s editorial team has peered into their crystal balls to make some predictions about the sports industry over the next 12 months
Predicting the future of sports is a mug’s game. Will Netflix become the number one broadcaster for live sport? Will the Enhanced Games spectacularly flop before they’ve barely begun? Will the 2026 FIFA World Cup become the most commercially successful sporting event in history? Ask us again in twelve months.
The truth is, by the time 2026 draws to a close, at least half of what we’re about to tell you will have aged like milk. But that’s rather the point. The sports industry has spent years telling itself the same comforting story: audiences always grow, rights deals always rise, and the winning formula is simply doing more of what worked before.
Except now, the script is changing. Not because of any single shock to the system, but through a thousand small recalibrations in how sport is packaged, priced, and pushed to fans who are increasingly difficult to reach and even harder to keep.
So what’s coming in 2026? Our editorial team has peered into the crystal ball – or at least tried to—to make our predictions for the year ahead.
Editor’s predictions: The business of winning is changing
I have lost count of how many times I have heard senior figures in sport describe growth as inevitable. Bigger audiences, richer media deals, higher valuations: the language barely changes from year to year. Yet as 2025 draws to a close, the industry feels less like a sector on an endless upward curve and more like one learning to live with limits.
In my view, 2026 will not be defined by dramatic disruption, but recalibrations of price, product, and how fans are monetised.
Start with valuations. For much of the past decade, elite sport has enjoyed a rare combination of scarcity and certainty. Live rights remained resilient while other media faltered, capital was cheap, and ownership conferred both status and financial upside. That dynamic pushed valuations in leagues such as the NFL, NBA and Premier League to extraordinary levels. But the mood has shifted. Media-rights growth is becoming more selective, with some packages commanding fierce competition while others struggle to deliver meaningful uplifts. Meanwhile, costs continue to rise, from player wages to production and compliance.
I do not expect a correction in the dramatic sense as demand for top-tier sports assets remains strong. But I do expect a flattening of the curve. Investors, particularly private equity groups taking minority stakes, are asking harder questions about cash flow, governance and yield. Even traditional owners seem more willing to admit that the era of automatic appreciation may be over.
That same pragmatism is shaping the product itself. For years, leagues have spoken reverently about tradition while quietly reshaping competitions to suit commercial reality. The expansion of the Champions League, the introduction of in-season tournaments in the US and the steady increase in overseas regular-season games all point in the same direction. In 2026, I expect this approach to become more explicit.
Finally, there is the fan. In mature markets, audience growth has slowed, particularly among younger supporters whose engagement is fragmented and unpredictable. Faced with this reality, clubs and leagues are changing focus with the emphasis shifting from reaching more people to extracting more value from those already reached. For example, dynamic ticket pricing is now routine rather than controversial; and membership schemes are evolving into tiered access models, offering priority and exclusivity at a price.
None of this suggests that sport is in decline. On the contrary, it suggests an industry entering a more mature phase of its development. In 2026, the most successful organisations will be those that accept this reality: owners who prioritise yield over hype, leagues that adapt their products to how they are consumed, and clubs that recognise loyalty as an economic asset as much as an emotional one.
Kieran O’Connor: The year of new revenue drivers
The first trend to watch in 2026 is the Premier League’s voluntary front-of-shirt gambling ban. Clubs and betting brands will simply move sponsorships to sleeves, training kits and shorts, and the financial impact will be minimal.
What this really means is, revenue loss will be negligible which is good for clubs, but supporter exposure largely stays the same.
Activist groups have already pushed the league to do more than restrict front-of-shirt branding. Therefore, expect more media coverage and calls for stricter measures when the ban comes into effect next season.
In 2026, brands will increasingly prioritise individual athletes over leagues or clubs as the main vehicle for marketing. The global sports influencer market, which hit $2.21bn in 2024, is set to grow even more. Research shows 70% of fans prefer following athletes and teams on social media and engagement rates for athlete content average 2.3% on Instagram, higher than team or league posts.
This matters because fans engage with people, not organisations. Sports organisations are no longer seen as communities but as businesses. Human-focused storytelling built around athletes’ personal journeys and personalities will increasingly outperform traditional club or league narratives.
The third prediction is around the launch of Enhanced Games, which will fundamentally change the way leagues and organisations think about generating revenue.
This athletics competition, allowing athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs, is backed by significant funding from big pharma. In addition to sponsorship and merchandise, this model introduces a new revenue stream by commercialising drugs tested.
While controversial, this approach will likely influence how other sports explore alternative revenue sources. Using sport as a testing ground for broader industries could become a blueprint for monetisation across sectors, especially as everyone is in the race to make more money.
Callum Williams: Rugby will get its commercialised league
This may already come to fruition next year as the Mike Tindall-led R360 is promising a new rugby league focused on commercialisation and paying players more substantial salaries.
R360 already has the investment backing of figureheads of similar commercial powerhouses, such as the Premier League, Indian Premier League and LIV Golf and while the traditional league such as the Gallagher Prem are pushing back, rugby needs a fresh coat of paint.
Rugby Union, in particular, has seen many of its teams such as Wasps, London Irish and Worcester Warriors fold due to financial struggles, and the same story is happening in Rugby League with the recent folding of Salford Red Devils.
Rugby needs a new commercial approach, whether that’s through additional investment in established leagues, or a brand new entity such as R360, for the greater good of the sport.
TikTok will acquire sports highlights rights
When the Bundesliga awarded live broadcast rights to Gary Neville’s The Overlap and Mark Goldbridge That’s Football YouTube channels, it represented a shift to a seismic digital-native audience.
Sports leagues are beginning to understand the enormity of digital channels and subsequently leveraging these platforms to enhance its viewership amongst younger people, which is why TikTok should be interested in acquiring highlight rights.
The short-form social media app has nearly two billion users and if it can receive licensed highlight packages, this can in turn help sports such as rugby, tennis and cricket who have struggled to capture the imagination of Gen Z.
Crypto will replace gambling as the Premier League’s favourite shirt sponsor
The Premier League’s ban on gambling front-of-shirt sponsorship will come into effect at the start of the 2026/27 season, therefore a void needs to be filled.
While Premier League clubs will no doubt look for the best sponsorship deal to suit their needs, crypto companies have revived their interest in commercial sports in the past several years, with Crypto.com becoming a headline sponsor of the UEFA Champions League for example.
Crypto companies have large pockets and have shown they are willing to payout for enhanced visibility for an industry that may not be as established as gambling’s, but one that is quickly gaining momentum.
As the Premier League is the most-watched domestic league in the world, crypto companies would be foolish not to take an interest in a shirt sponsorship deal that would be branded all across the world, and clubs will also be attracted to the revenue these companies can provide.
