The tournament runs in Australia in October and November.
The 2026 Las Vegas Grand Prix takes place 19–21 November.
Las Vegas is arguably the perfect example of modern sports media: sport + entertainment + hospitality + tourism + technology + celebrity + OOH.
F1’s own partner information highlights technology and fan-experience partnerships around the event, including T-Mobile’s 5G involvement.
ESPN is developing its Unlimited direct-to-consumer proposition with more short-form video and social content, as it looks to increase engagement and retention.
The wider lesson is important: sports media is no longer simply TV versus digital. Increasingly, broadcasters need to connect live television, streaming, short-form video, social and personalised content into one ecosystem.
The 2026/27 season marks a significant change in Premier League shirt sponsorship, with clubs moving away from gambling companies on the front of shirts.
Nielsen research highlighted growing interest from fintech, AI, software and sovereign investment businesses, with Crystal Palace partnering with AI company Temporal, Aston Villa with Visit Rwanda and Everton with CMC Markets.
World Athletics’ new Ultimate Championship takes place in Budapest from 11–13 September.
It introduces things designed specifically to make athletics more engaging for modern audiences, including live win probabilities, augmented graphics, projected finishing positions, fan feedback and a new event format.
The 2026 Rugby League World Cup is due to be shown exclusively on subscription service Premier Sports in the UK, after the BBC did not bid for the rights.
That has triggered criticism, including from Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who argued that the tournament should remain accessible on free-to-air television.
ITV reported that more than 200 brands advertised around the 2026 World Cup, including brands that were new to television. The broadcaster said some advertisers moved spend into June and July to capitalise on the tournament’s audiences, while England’s match against Norway peaked at more than 18 million viewers.
Almost 63 million Americans watched the 2026 World Cup final, nearly three times the US audience for the 2022 final.
Fox’s English-language coverage attracted 38.9 million viewers, while Telemundo and Peacock delivered another 23.9 million. Knockout-stage advertising reportedly reached around $1 million for a 30-second spot, while Fox generated significant additional inventory through the tournament’s new hydration breaks.
Oura’s CMO discussed how the wearable technology brand is using sports sponsorship as a platform to build awareness and connect the product with performance, health and lifestyle.
11–13 September, Budapest.
This is a brand-new property, meaning there is potentially a fascinating opportunity around new audiences, new sponsorship inventory and new broadcast formats.
Infront has been appointed to lead international media-rights sales for the event.
It is becoming a platform through which brands can access:
TV → Streaming → Social → Digital → Programmatic → OOH → Sponsorship → Influencers → Experiential → Commerce
The World Cup demonstrated the power of live television. ESPN is pushing deeper into streaming and social. World Athletics is redesigning its product for modern audiences. Premier League sponsorship is moving towards technology and financial services. Formula 1 has become a global entertainment property.
The question isn’t whether your brand should be in sport. The question is where, when and how sport can work hardest for your business.
We connect ambitious sports, fitness and performance brands with high-impact media opportunities across TV, digital, out-of-home, audio, print, sponsorship and live events. Through strategic planning and smart buying, we put brands in front of the right audiences, build visibility and create measurable growth.
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