With the FIFA World Cup scheduled for cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico while the Winter Olympics in Milan quickly approaches, 2026 is shaping up to be a momentous year for sports marketers. However, big events aren’t the only sports-related viewing moments marketers need to be aware of in the months ahead. Notably, streaming is expected to continue to disrupt the sports marketing landscape and open up new opportunities, according 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 trends within the sports media landscape, such as national TV and streaming ratings and the group’s panel data.
Streaming scores big
Sports continue to help prop up traditional TV. The return of football in September 2025 caused broadcast TV viewership to jump 20% month-over-month, according to Nielsen data cited in the report.
Super Bowl LIX pulled in a record of 127 million viewers, another win for broadcasters and big game advertisers. However, the historic viewership levels may not be completely attributable to the game’s linear broadcast. Fox also aired the game on its free streaming service Tubi, which is largely geared toward younger audiences. And the bet paid off: 18.9% of the game’s overall audience was in the 18 to 34 age demographic. When looking at Tubi data only, that percentage jumps to 26.2%.
A similar trend was observed when looking at NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcasts, according to the report. For example, just 12.1% of cable and broadcast viewers were in the 18 to 34 age bracket, but that climbed to 25.9% when looking at the Peacock streaming audience. The 65-plus demographic made up the largest percentage 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 games aren’t the only thing keeping sports fans engaged. Sports documentaries have proven to be a gateway for many consumers. Series such as “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” “Hard Knocks,” and “Full Swing” have helped to drive increases in both viewership and interest in certain sports. Such programming has often acted as a gateway into more niche or growing sports and leagues.
Between 2021 and 2024, the total number of viewing minutes of sports documentaries gradually increased. In 2021, the total number of viewing minutes of sports documentaries was 4.709 billion. By 2024, this number reached 16.937 billion. Through September 2025, the category saw a total of 10.68 billion viewing minutes.
“Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which premiered in 2019, has had a significant impact on both the world of sports documentaries and the sport itself. Since its debut, the audiences for Grand Prix on Disney linear networks have more than doubled on average. While it’s unknown how much the series contributed to the rise in viewership, it would be difficult to say it had no impact, according 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.”
