About Me / Dropshot I'm Matt, founder of Dropshot — a UK-based digital marketing agency working with teams, brands, and individuals across sport. We focus on strategy, social, CRM, and performance marketing, helping clients turn digital into something that actually delivers. Our clients range from local clubs to national sports bodies and challenger brands looking to punch above their weight. Trend: Event Sponsorships Will Be Built for Social — Not Just Stadiums Historically, shirt sponsors or event partners showed up in two places: on the kit or around the pitch. That's not enough anymore. As social becomes the real arena for reach, the most valuable partnerships in 2026 will be the ones that can live natively in-feed — not just on signage. You'll see more co-branded content series, creators embedded in activations, and strategic briefs focused on turning matchday moments into ongoing midweek value. Rights holders are already being pushed to prove value outside of matchday — and social-first thinking is how they'll do it.
I'm Maria Rodriguez, leading global marketing at Open Influence where we've executed campaigns for Fortune 500 brands. Our AI-driven approach to creator partnerships gives me deep visibility into what's actually moving the needle in sports marketing. **Creator-driven watch parties** are changing how fans experience live sports. We're seeing brands partner with mid-tier creators to host synchronized viewing experiences during major games, complete with real-time commentary and interactive challenges. One campaign we ran saw 44% higher brand recall compared to traditional stadium advertising because viewers were actively participating rather than passively watching. **Data-triggered fan activation** is replacing broad demographic targeting. Using AI analysis of fan behavior patterns, brands can now trigger personalized experiences based on specific game moments - like sending exclusive merchandise offers to fans whose teams just scored. We implemented this for a client during playoff season and saw conversion rates jump 73% because the timing felt organic to the fan's emotional state. Both trends work because they meet fans where their attention actually lives - on their phones during games, not just at the venue. The key is authentic integration that improves rather than interrupts the viewing experience.
About SEASON: SEASON is a sports search / discovery platform designed to prioritize context over stats. About me: Ex-McKinsey / Lyft Operations leader with experience speaking at SXSW on sports culture, authoring Sportico op-ed and hosting a sports tech podcast for 3 yrs Major trends: 1. Intimate experiences will become the norm combined with hyper-personalization & community led marketing. From AI-powered algorithms that are learning to personalize experiences, tailoring content like merchandise recommendations and game highlights to individual preferences with different modes like texting and voice to more community activations - more you can create the illusion of feeling close to the fan - the better it is. Investing more in creators will become another major trend we'll see in the next few months. 2. From Gatorade's NFL adjacent collaboration with Kristin Juszczyk celebrating inclusivity through fashion-forward sports merchandise to the explosive success of new leagues like Unrivaled (which raised $35 million and delivered over 11.9 million viewers) CNBCJust Women's Sports and LOVB professional volleyball featuring 17 Olympians, brands are finally investing in the demographic that represents 47% of women's sports fans globally and controls 74% of household purchasing decisions. People think women in sports = Caitlin Clark but there are major tailwinds in industry and we'll see more marketing dollars being spent on women specifically. After 300+ user interviews - we discovered that traditional sports marketing is an inflection point in multiple places, especially with AI changing consumer behavior and the rise of culture led storytelling becoming key. Sports organizations that can develop a two way relationship whether it's using storytelling or merchandise will win in the next 18 months.
Kontra is a sports organisation oriented around everything that has an engine and at least two wheels. We've worked with drivers and organisations during big and small events, and there is one trend that will be growing in the remaining part of 2025 and 2026. I'm talking about providing a "behind the scenes" VIP experience combined with spending time with the driver. so it's not just seeing how the sports awards gala is organised, but you get to go through the whole experience of being one of the stars. From rehersals, through the make up procedure, all the way to sitting being on the backstage when the awars are given away, this is the ultimate VIP experience. The benefit of it is the scarcity, as you can provide it to 2-3 people at once maximum, and it's just something more than having the regular "meet and greet" with a star, or seing the event from the backstage. It's a win-win scenario for the VIPs, for the athlete, as they are getting their share of the revenue from it, and it's very likely to give you an additional media recognition and some free marketing. Newspapers love such stories and catchy headlines about "spending the day with a star", and with a good press release, you can get a ton of media coverage. Im all aboard the hype train of this trend, and as long as the value is delivered, so the fans don't feel scammed, and the athlete's privacy and personal space are respected, I don't see anything wrong with it, so when you'll be organising your next sports event, try giving it a try!
I'm the founder of Prose, a marketing and staffing agency that supports brands—including those in the sports and entertainment space—with on-demand access to elite marketing talent. One trend we see gaining serious traction is the integration of AI-powered personalization into fan experiences. Think dynamic event emails or in-stadium content that changes based on a fan's preferences, purchase history, or even geolocation. It's not just tech for tech's sake—it's about making each fan feel like the experience was built just for them. That kind of personalization drives deeper emotional engagement and higher spend per attendee. Another emerging shift is the rise of "content-first" event strategy. Teams and sponsors are designing fan activations not just for the live experience, but with shareability in mind—short-form video, behind-the-scenes access, and influencer-friendly setups. In other words, if it doesn't look good on TikTok, it's probably not going to make the cut. It's turning marketers into producers and fans into the distribution channel. The real win? Event ROI now extends far beyond the stadium walls.
I'm Tony Crisp, marketing consultant and founder of CRISPx. I've launched tech products for companies like Nvidia, HTC Vive, and Robosen's $700 Transformers robot that exceeded pre-order expectations through strategic brand positioning. **Gamification through licensed IP partnerships** is changing sports events into entertainment ecosystems. We saw this with Robosen's Optimus Prime launch - by tapping into nostalgic franchises, sports venues can create premium experiences that command 3-4x higher ticket prices. Imagine NBA arenas partnering with Marvel for themed game nights or NFL stadiums creating Disney-branded family zones. **Data-driven crowd psychology triggers** are replacing gut-feel marketing decisions. Using our DOSE Method™, we track emotional peaks during events to deploy targeted activations. When we launched products, we measured audience engagement spikes and triggered specific calls-to-action at those exact moments - the same approach works for sports where crowd energy naturally creates buying windows. Both strategies work because they transform passive spectators into active participants with emotional investment, driving revenue beyond traditional ticket and concession sales.
This is Gene Williams, founder at Athletes Untapped. Social engagement will continue to dominate sports events & marketing into 2026 - it's already driving high-level decisions across all of the pro sports leagues. And on the youth level, it's how athletes are connecting with their favorite players and following their journeys. If you want to promote a tournament or increase fan interactions, you need to have a killer social gameplan!
I'm Kerry Anderson, co-founder of RankingCo, a Brisbane-based digital marketing company. Over 15 years, I've helped scale businesses from $1M to $200M+ revenue using data-driven marketing strategies across Google Ads, SEO, and social media. **Video-first storytelling integration** is revolutionizing how sports events engage audiences before, during, and after games. We're seeing a shift from static promotional content to real-time video narratives that follow specific storylines throughout an event. One client increased their season ticket renewals by 34% by creating episodic video content that made fans feel like they were part of an ongoing story rather than just spectators. **Cross-platform retargeting ecosystems** are becoming essential for maximizing event ROI. Sports marketers are now tracking fan interactions across YouTube, Instagram, and Google searches to create unified customer journeys. We helped a sports venue boost their merchandise sales by 42% by retargeting fans who watched game highlights on social media with personalized product ads featuring players they engaged with most. These trends work because they transform passive consumption into active participation. The key is treating each touchpoint as part of a larger narrative rather than isolated marketing moments.
I'm Divyansh Agarwal, web designer and founder of Webyansh, where I've built websites for sports-related SaaS platforms and analyzed how top-performing sites drive fan engagement through design. **Interactive Experience Integration** is becoming massive in 2026. Sports organizations are embedding real-time calculators and interactive elements directly into their event pages - similar to how I've seen B2B SaaS companies like Marketo use ROI calculators to boost engagement. One client's tournament registration page saw 40% higher completion rates after we added an interactive bracket predictor that updated live with user selections. **Dynamic Content Personalization Through APIs** is changing fan experiences. Teams are using real-time data integration (like the booking engine API work I did for hospitality clients) to automatically update event pages with personalized content based on fan behavior, location, and past attendance. This eliminates the manual updates that kill momentum during peak ticket sales. These trends work because they turn passive browsing into active participation. When fans interact with your content instead of just reading it, they're mentally committing before they even hit the purchase button.