With the FIFA World Cup scheduled for cities throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico whereas the Winter Olympics in Milan rapidly approaches, 2026 is shaping as much as be a momentous 12 months for sports entrepreneurs. However, huge occasions aren’t the solely sports-related viewing moments entrepreneurs want to pay attention to in the months forward. Notably, streaming is anticipated to proceed to disrupt the sports marketing panorama and open up new alternatives, in response to a report from Nielsen.
“Streaming is evolving how sports are delivered and consumed, keeping fan attention for longer than ever before,” per Nielsen’s “Top of Sports: Media trends shaping sports marketing for 2026” report.
For the report, Nielsen analyzed developments inside the sports media panorama, reminiscent of nationwide TV and streaming rankings and the group’s panel information.
Streaming scores huge
Sports proceed to assist prop up conventional TV. The return of soccer in September 2025 triggered broadcast TV viewership to leap 20% month-over-month, in response to Nielsen information cited in the report.
Super Bowl LIX pulled in a document of 127 million viewers, one other win for broadcasters and massive recreation advertisers. However, the historic viewership ranges might not be fully attributable to the recreation’s linear broadcast. Fox additionally aired the recreation on its free streaming service Tubi, which is basically geared towards youthful audiences. And the wager paid off: 18.9% of the recreation’s total viewers was in the 18 to 34 age demographic. When taking a look at Tubi information solely, that share jumps to 26.2%.
An analogous pattern was noticed when taking a look at NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts, in response to the report. For instance, simply 12.1% of cable and broadcast viewers have been in the 18 to 34 age bracket, however that climbed to 25.9% when taking a look at the Peacock streaming viewers. The 65-plus demographic made up the largest share of linear viewers, 33%. However, it was the smallest demographic for the Peacock stream, at 9.9%.
“Rather than exclusivity, data trends from this year shows the biggest opportunity is in airing games across both linear and streaming,” per the report.
Power of sports documentaries
Live video games aren’t the solely factor preserving sports followers engaged. Sports documentaries have confirmed to be a gateway for a lot of shoppers. Series reminiscent of “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” “Hard Knocks,” and “Full Swing” have helped to drive will increase in each viewership and curiosity in sure sports. Such programming has usually acted as a gateway into extra area of interest or rising sports and leagues.
Between 2021 and 2024, the whole variety of viewing minutes of sports documentaries progressively elevated. In 2021, the whole variety of viewing minutes of sports documentaries was 4.709 billion. By 2024, this quantity reached 16.937 billion. Through September 2025, the class noticed a complete of 10.68 billion viewing minutes.
“Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which premiered in 2019, has had a big impression on each the world of sports documentaries and the sport itself. Since its debut, the audiences for Grand Prix on Disney linear networks have greater than doubled on common. While it’s unknown how a lot the collection contributed to the rise in viewership, it will be troublesome to say it had no impression, in response to the report.
“While sports documentaries weren’t a new phenomenon in 2019, streaming created a veritable warehouse for fans to engage with these films and shows as much as they wanted,” per the report. “And seeing the halo effect ‘Drive to Survive’ had, more and more content became available.”